Barriers
by Grimbt
Summary: A KonoSetsu story. Set after the Magic World Arc. Can Setsuna come to grips with having feelings for Konoka? Maybe, maybe not. But with Asuna and Negi gone so much, she has a lot more time to find out! Action, romance, and intrigue. Stay tuned, more to come!
1. Chapter 1

KonoSetsu FF

Author: Grimbt

Timeline: After Magic World Arc, before Asuna Kagurazaka leaves.

Character connections: Konoe Konoka and Sakurazaki Setsuna.

Chapter 1.

As Konoe Konoka made her way to the school building alone, she wondered, somewhat absently, where her friends were today. She knew that Negi had things to attend to after the resolution of the collapse of the Magical World, and that Asuna frequently went to help him with, whatever he was doing, but they could have at least told her when they'd be gone. She continued to mull it over as she glided down the busy street towards Mahora Academy on her rollerblades. She snapped back to attention when she heard a very familiar voice shout her name.

"Konoka-ojousama!" The student of Shinmeiryuu was running to catch up with Konoka, gliding effortlessly between people on the crowded street.

"Secchan!" Konoka twirled around on her skates to greet Sakurazaki Setsuna. As she spun in somewhat of a flashy manner, her chocolate colored hair flew through the air like ribbons of loose silk caught up in a breeze. Setsuna slowed to a halt before her, temporarily mesmerized by Konoka's graceful movements. It didn't last long, however, for a somewhat clumsy looking girl bumped into Setsuna and broke her out of her trance.

"Hey, watch where you're standing! I'm trying to walk here!" The rude girl hardly took a second glance at Setsuna before rushing on down the street.

Konoka had seen the whole thing and rolled the now short distance to her friend. "What was her problem?" she asked of Setsuna. The ponytail of charcoal hair affixed to the side of Setsuna's head bobbled as she shook her head, still staring at the rude girls back, fading in the distance.

"I have no idea." She turned her head to look at Konoka and was surprised when she saw the other girl pouting.

"And I thought I told you not to call me ojousama anymore." The chocolate-haired girl wagged her finger playfully at her friend. Setsuna blushed slightly as she broke eye contact, berating herself for instinctively using the honorific greeting.

"Sorry ojou—Konoka-chan."

"That's better!" Konoka gave her friend a wide smile and took hold of her wrist, "Now we better hurry or we're going to be late for class!" Setsuna's blush increased as she allowed herself to be dragged by the girl on rollerblades. She didn't have any trouble keeping up, of course. Between her Shinmeiryuu training and her hanyou heritage, her physical condition could rival even the strongest students in her school. Her contracts with both Negi and Konoka didn't hurt either. As Konoka glided along before her, Setsuna couldn't help but lose herself in the feeling of Konoka's hand on her wrist. Embarrassed at almost any form of physical contact in public, it was no surprise her blush remained on her face as the two raced down the street. Despite the embarrassment, Setsuna truly enjoyed the feeling of her friend's hand so close to hers. At least for a while.

_What am I thinking? We're both girls! Yeah, we kissed for the contract, but isn't it indecent? I mean, what would Eishun-sama say? Or old man Konoemon-sama?_ With that thought she managed to wriggle her hand free from Konoka's grip, feeling a pang of regret when her warmth left her wrist. "Thanks, Konoka, but I can keep up." Konoka only looked at her flatly for a moment, before sighing and refocusing on the street before her. They spent the rest of the commute in relative silence, finally arriving at their classroom with only a few minutes to spare.

As they entered the classroom, Fate Averruncus—their fill-in teacher for Negi—was seated stiffly at his large desk, scrawling something in a book with apparent, extreme concentration. Idle chit-chat filled the room as their classmates conversed in their normal groups, with the occasional daydreamer. Setsuna quickly noted that once again, Chachamaru was nowhere to be found. _Not too surprising_, she thought, _she is probably helping Negi with the project._ Deep in thought, Setsuna automatically set her things down on her desk next to Kugimiya Madoka. She was rustling through her bag when she heard her name called.

"Sakurazaki-san, please come to the front of the room." The sentence was made even colder by Fate's icy voice. Setsuna, was rarely shaken, but Fate's past incident with the Konoe family jaded her view of him. Enough to be caught off guard by the personal request.

"Yes, sensei," she said in a confident, but hollow manner. It wasn't until she reached the desk that she realized that most of the conversation around the room had dissipated, her classmates watching. As Fate stared at her from behind his desk, she could feel almost every eye trained on her back.

"Sakurazaki-san, you will be moving seats. Kagurazaka-san can no longer make it to class on a consistent basis due to classified reasons. Therefore, in the interest of space, you will be taking her place next to Konoe-san, and when McDowell-san finally arrives to class, she will be taking your seat, are we clear?" Setsuna's emotions rollercoastered as she listened to Fate's eerily stony voice. First confusion, then elation, then embarrassment, finally ending in a sort of happy acquiescence.

"Yes, sensei. I will move my things immediately." She bowed to the white-haired youth who had returned to his notes and walked somewhat briskly back to her seat, trying to get ahold of her heart rate.

_Is it normal to get so excited about moving to the seat next to your best friend? Why do I feel so happy?_ She tried to figure out just what her emotions were doing as she grabbed her things. When she looked around to her new seat, however, that train of thought was completely derailed by the sight of Konoka beaming at her from behind her desk.

"Isn't this great news, Secchan? Now we get to be next to each other all day long!" Setsuna's pulse jumped, and she felt her blush return to her cheeks as she moved around to her new seat.

"Yes, Konoka-chan, it is nice." When she sat down, Konoka scooted her chair closer to Setsuna's and looped her arm through the charcoal-haired girl's.

"I'm happy Secchan." Setsuna could only blush at Konoka's forwardness. Intentionally avoiding her eyes, she gazed around the room, and noticed several of her classmates giggling at the two of them. Saotome Haruna, and Kazumi Asakura in particular. Luckily, the bell signifying the beginning of class saved Setsuna from her face becoming even redder with embarrassment.

Fate stood with his usual stiffness and cast his stern gaze over the classroom. "Today we will be talking about Recursion in the English language. We will start on page 256 with the third paragraph. Please follow along. 'Recursion occurs when a sentence in which there is a Noun Phrase, or 'NP', contains…'" Setsuna could barely maintain her focus through Fate's lecture, her mind drifting to the girl on her left, and in particular, the fact that when she did so, a strange warmth rose inside her, brightening even Fate's cold delivery. Luckily, Setsuna was not called on to answer questions, and was in quite a good mood when the bell signified the end of classes for the day. She set her notebook and pen in her book bag and was about to lift it to her shoulder when Konoka caught her hand.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for reading my story! It is still a work in progress, but I am excited to be sharing it with you all. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Reviews and PMs are always appreciated (that sounds cliche but it really makes me happy when someone is enjoying my writing, and I won't know unless you say something!). Please look forward to more chapters to come. In the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

"So, Secchan, do you have any plans for the rest of today?" Konoka's big brown eyes looked into Setsuna's dark ones expectantly. Setsuna broke eye contact as she blushed at having her hand held by her best friend in the middle of the classroom. She shrugged in a non-committal fashion.

"Well, I have my guard rounds at 22:30 till midnight, but I don't really have anything planned until then, if you wanted to…you know…do something." She snuck a peek at Konoka's reaction. The younger girl was practically giggling with excitement.

"Yay! With Negi and Asuna not around, I've had no one to spend time with after school, but now I can spend it with you Secchan! Let's get out of here, Fate-sensei still creeps me out." As Konoka started towards the door, still holding Setsuna's hand, she shot a glare at the back of Fate's head, who was erasing the day's notes from the chalkboard. She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at the white-haired substitute teacher. When she opened her eyes, however, she found Fate's blank stare boring into her, a weight about him as if he wanted to petrify her. Konoka let out a small "eep" and hurriedly rushed out of the classroom with Setsuna making bowing apologies as she followed her friend.

As they walked through the hallway that led out of the building, they talked about what they wanted to do. "Do you want to go shopping Secchan? There are a few new stores that opened while we were away in the magical world we could go to." Konoka cocked her head to the side awaiting an answer.

"If you want to ojo—Konoka-chan." It was still hard stop herself from using the formal honorific. Konoka looked at the swordswoman with somewhat of an annoyed look, which brought a questioning look from Setsuna. The younger girl stopped in front of Setsuna and put her hands on her hips, a playful exasperation on her face.

"I didn't ask what _I_ wanted to do, I asked what _you_ wanted to do." Setsuna looked at the other girl blankly.

"I want to do what you want to do Kono—." Before she could finish the sentence Konoka was wagging her finger in Setsuna's face.

"None of that. Now what does Sakurazaki Setsuna want to do with an afternoon with her best friend?"

As the darker-haired girl considered the question, she felt a small, familiar battle resume inside her. _As her sworn protector my opinion shouldn't matter to Konoka-ojousama. She should decide what we do, and I should just follow and keep her safe. But, she is my friend. My best friend, and don't best friends decide to do things together? Even so, how can I do both? Won't my opinions hurt my ability to protect her?_ She glanced back at Konoka in the middle of her internal struggle and saw her big, puppy-dog eyes that pleaded Setsuna to pick a destination. She rarely got to see those eyes for long, and whenever she could, she relished the time spent lost in their depths. She caved and decided that making Konoka happy was her ultimate goal. "Well I don't really want to go shopping today. If we could, I would really love to go to the beach and play in the sun, to be honest." Setsuna knew that Konoka loved the beach, and if her master was happy, then she was happy too.

"The beach? That sounds wonderful! Oh, but look Secchan. It's raining outside!" Konoka pouted as she looked at the grey clouds and falling rain out one of the windows in the hallway. "What are we going to do?" The chocolate-haired girl looked back at Setsuna as a kid would look to her mother for guidance. Setsuna enjoyed the other girl's distress maybe a little too much, but only because she knew how sad she was about the situation, and that she herself knew exactly what to do about it.

"I know just the place to go. Follow me!" Setsuna didn't even wait for Konoka's chime of "Okay Secchan!" before taking a risk by grabbing ahold of her hand and then leading her down the hallway, out of the building and down the street.

After a few minutes of excited silence, mixed with the fact that they were both getting quite wet from the rain because neither one of them had brought an umbrella that day, Konoka began to get anxious. "Where are we going Secchan?" The older girl simply looked back at the girl she was leading by the hand, and put on a sly smile. She decided to take another risk, one she was pretty sure would go over just fine.

"Somewhere warm, Kono-chan," she said as she turned her head back to the road before her. She felt a tug on her arm as the younger girl stopped, and instantly regretted using the—what she considered to be—cute name. She decided she better apologize for her improper manners immediately, so she turned around.

What she saw, however, wasn't indignation, but apparent joy radiating from the younger girl. "Secchan, you said Kono-chan without stammering or anything! I'm so happy!" Konoka flung her arms around a stunned Setsuna, who didn't quite know what to do with herself. Standing there in the rain with the other girl's arms around her shoulders, bodies pressed together, Setsuna put her arms around Konoka's waist, her hands in the small of her back.

Wrapped up in the feeling of the other girl in her arms she whispered into her ear, "Well, I figured I should call you something as cute as you are." She instantly blushed at what had just come out of her mouth. _Did I really say that? Isn't that too forward? I mean, it's absolutely true, but can I even say it to her? She's a princess, and I'm just a half-demon servant. Well, I guess it's already been said._ As she was thinking this she felt Konoka pull away from her chest slightly, just enough to look Setsuna in the eyes, who couldn't quite tell if the water running down her face was from the rain or not.

"That's beautiful Secchan. Thank you." The warmth Setsuna had felt earlier that day returned as she looked into the eyes of the girl she was holding on that empty, rainy street. Slowly, the doubt in her mind faded and was replaced by a sense of belonging and serenity. _She looks so beautiful, even in the rain._

Setsuna noticed the girl before her had started to shiver in just her school uniform, which was, much like her own, completely soaked through by now. "Come on Kono-chan, let's get you warm." No hesitation or inquiry came from the chocolate-haired girl this time as she was led off the road they were on, to a trail that seemed familiar.

"Secchan, isn't this the road to Eva-chan's house?" The older girl only gave her a quick wink before continuing on, still leading her by the hand—not that Konoka minded. She appreciated the fact that Setsuna was being unusually friendly today. _Secchan must sure be feeling good today. I wonder what happened._ _Was it because we got to sit together today? Maybe Fate-sensei isn't so bad after all, since he let Setsuna sit next to me!_

Before the younger girl realized it, they were in front of Evangeline's log cabin, set back in a forested region of Mahora most people knew nothing about. As an immortal vampire, Evangeline A.K. McDowell didn't appreciate visitors, especially not the excitable, foolish lot she was forced to call "classmates." Of course, she was on decent terms with the two girls stepping onto her porch, although mainly because they were friends of Negi, her disciple in the art of battle arcana. The two girls approached the solid front door and Setsuna knocked loudly, hoping beyond hope that Evangeline was home and in a good mood. She wasn't quite sure what she'd do if Eva-chan was not so.

* * *

Author's note: Thank you for reading. Please, do not be worried by the speed (or lack thereof) in this story. I wanted to lay some ground work before launching into the real meat of the story. Feel free to leave a review or a PM. In the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Evangeline heard a knock at the door and groaned at having to get out of bed to answer it. She tromped down the stairs with sleep still in her eyes, imagining herself freezing whoever was at the door on the spot for disturbing her. _Probably that brat Kotaro. He's always bothering me to use my resort to train. Maybe I'll let him today, just so I can smash him into little pieces._ Evangeline's thoughts turned increasingly morbid and her hard smile increasingly wider as she neared the door. _Oh I am going to enjoy his pain toda—._ When she opened the door, it wasn't Kotaro standing there, but the Shinmeiryuu and the Konoe girl, the taller one erect but hesitant, with a slight blush covering her cheeks, and the other holding herself against the cold rain, obviously trying to cuddle up the hanyou. Evangeline was slightly surprised since these two often accompanied her disciple when he came here for training. Still, she didn't like being bothered during a nap, especially when she was dreaming of Nagi. "What do you two want?" She said in a manner she thought would adequately convey to them that she did not wish to be disturbed.

Setsuna knew how cold the "Dark Evangel" could be—even her magic was ice—but she stood her ground strong because she needed to, for Konoka's sake. "Evangeline-dono, we would request the use of your resort for the afternoon." Setsuna looked Evangeline straight in the eyes, using all of her willpower to try and force the vampire to accept with her gaze.

Evangeline slumped against the doorway, her hand rubbing her forehead. "Jeez, that's all you want? And you woke me up for that? Fine, you may use it, but be warned, I made some adjustments to it the other day to simulate some special scenarios for the boy, and I haven't reversed them. Whatever you get yourselves into, you have to get out of. Now stop bothering me, I'm headed back to bed." With a last, tired look between the two girls she waved them in and rounded for the stairs back to her bedroom.

As she slipped off her shoes to come inside, Konoka watched the seemingly young girl climb the wooden stairs in her 19th century, Western style pajamas. She never really understood Eva-chan, but she didn't really care. Secchan and she were going to be spending the afternoon together. She wasn't really expecting to go to Eva-chan's resort so when Setsuna led her to her house, she was a little confused. _It all ended up working out in the end though. I'm so excited!_ Konoka bounced up and down in her wet clothes, creating a small puddle where she was standing on the wood floor. She quickly pulled off her knee-high socks and stuffed them in her shoes, springing onto the tastefully placed rug along the hallway that stretched from the foyer to the room that held the glass bottles of the resort. She spun around to Setsuna, who was likewise removing her socks, but at a much more deliberate speed. "Hurry up Secchan! I wanna be warm!" She playfully nagged at the other girl. As soon as Setsuna had placed her socks in her shoes as Konoka had, the chocolate-haired girl grabbed her arm and pulled her—maybe less than gently—down the hall to the room with the magic glass bottles.

As they arrived in the room they quickly recognized which bottle held the location they desired. It was fairly obvious, being the one filled with sand and some semblance of ocean water. Setsuna offered her hand to Konoka as they approached the beach-in-miniature, a half-cocked smile playing across her face. Konoka gladly accepted the gesture, and when they were hand-in-hand, Setsuna reached out and touched the face of the glass. Instantly a bright magic circle shone under both of their feet, and slowly, the two girls vanished from the room.

* * *

As she drifted off to a light sleep, something played across Evangeline's consciousness.

A thought perhaps, or a memory—it was hard to tell what image was what as sleep crept up on her.

Maybe it had something to do with her resort? Something about clothes?

She couldn't make the thought any clearer, nor did she particularly want to, as she lost her mind to vivid, conflicting images of Nagi burning to death in a pit, and the same man holding her in his arms forever.

* * *

Setsuna felt the cold wood floor give way to warm, soft sand and she knew that they had successfully made the transfer to the resort. As her eyes adjusted to the light that seemed to come from nowhere, and yet everywhere, she noticed something a little off. In a moment of mortified suspense she gazed down, and saw, much to her horror, her own naked body, completely devoid of clothing. Her blush was not as fervent as one might suppose, as some shame, but also extreme confusion fought in her mind. A small scream broke her out of her momentary trance, and she turned to find a confused Konoka in a similar state of undress, covering herself with her hands as best she could. "Why are we naked Secchan?!" Setsuna's blush increased until from her eyes down to her neck were bright red. She focused as hard as she could on Konoka's eyes, fearing the punishment from the younger girl if she peeked. She moved her hands to cover her own chest and between her legs. Yeah, they had bathed together at hot springs and the like, but they were always wearing towels, and besides, you were supposed to be naked at the bath, but not at the beach!

"I have no idea ojousama." In her embarrassment, she forgot to speak casually. "That's never happened before." She tried to figure out what they should do next. After some thought, she spoke up. "The way I see it, one of two things happened. One: the glass was rigged to teleport us and not our clothes, so they'd be still in the real world, or two: they were teleported to some other part of the island we're on now." Setsuna paused in her explanation to make sure Konoka was following along. The younger girl nodded once in agreement, so Setsuna went on. "Since we can't leave the resort for 24 hours, I say we look around to see if we can find them somewhere on the island."

Konoka nodded vigorously. "Okay Secchan! But what are we going to do until we find them?" Konoka's face was somewhat concerned, but her voice seemed to have a hint of suggestion in it. At least, Setsuna thought she had heard that, which made her blush recur on her cheeks. She looked around—anywhere but at Konoka—until she found something.

"Well…there's those broad leafed trees over there." She pointed with the hand that was covering her chest at some type of tree—botany was not her strong suit—about 50 paces away from the water, towards the heart of the island. Konoka looked to where she was pointing, and seemed to ponder the stand of trees, at last nodding slightly and saying, "Okay." Setsuna caught the smallest of sighs from Konoka, faint enough that she assumed she had imagined it.

The two girls made it all the way to the small stand of trees at the edge of the jungle before Setsuna realized the leaves were much higher than she thought originally. She frowned, knowing what she had to do to retrieve the elusive leaves. "Stand back ojousama."

Konoka moved back, but frowned herself, "I don't like it when you call me that Secchan…" For the moment, Setsuna didn't really mind disobeying Konoka's orders about the names._ It's a trivial matter compared to the situation we're in._ Setsuna braced herself as she let her wings escape their fleshy prison. She flexed the muscles in them, extending the soft, snow white feathered appendages to full span. She took a brief moment to close her eyes and enjoy the slight breeze rippling through each feather. "I missed you," she muttered to her feathery protrusions. She wasn't sentimental about much, but her wings were definitely on that list. Opening her eyes, she felt she had wasted enough time on foolish things and set herself ready. As she moved the wings, she felt her feet rise from the sand. A few flaps and she was at the height of the leaves. Holding herself steady was not hard, and she easily picked four broad leaves from the tree.

Below her, Konoka admired the grace with which her best friend moved about midair. She had never told Setsuna, but she really loved it whenever they flew together. Secretly, Konoka was jealous of her, but she knew she couldn't just sprout wings, so flying with Setsuna was as close as she was going to get. Once her fascination with her friend's wings had subsided, Konoka took the opportunity in front of her. _She's flying, not paying attention to me. Maybe if I just sneak a peek, it won't hurt right?_ Overall, Setsuna was a prime specimen of the female kind, in Konoka's opinion. Her years of sword training in the Shinmeiryuu arts honed her muscles into what they were now. She was strong, stronger than most mortals, but her body was slender and attractive. Unfortunately, between the motion of her wings and the shadows of the tree leaves, Konoka couldn't make out much detail of the intimate parts of Setsuna's body, but the chocolate-haired youth saw enough to raise her heart rate._ Secchan is so beautiful. I wonder if she knows that. Maybe… Should I tell her?_ She quickly diverted her eyes as Setsuna descended from the top of the tree, turning her lewd gaze into a bashful innocence.

As she touched down on the soft sand, Setsuna let her wings return to their resting place in her back. She turned to look at Konoka. "Well here are the leaves, although, I'm not really sure what to do to them…" Konoka giggled at the lost look on Setsuna's face. That was one thing she never was, creative.

"Give them here, I'll do it." Within minutes Konoka had fashioned herself a leaf bikini, that while uncomfortable, served its purpose. "Okay, now for yours." Konoka approached her friend with the two leaves she had left. Setsuna's eyes widened, realizing what the other girl would have to do to fashion the makeshift garments for her.

"Oh no, Konoka-chan… I can do it now that I've seen you do it." She tried to snatch the leaves out of Konoka's hands, but the other girl pulled them away before giving Setsuna a playfully stern shake of the head.

"Now now Secchan. Stay still and let ojousama dress you," Konoka teased. Setsuna's mind clamored desperately for an excuse to do it herself, but she could tell that she wasn't going to win against the younger girl. Dropping her gaze to the ground in submission she nodded. Konoka immediately set to work. "Okay, arms up Secchan." A deep blush set in as Setsuna reluctantly raised her arms above her head. She didn't really mind Konoka looking at her, in fact she kind of liked it. _But is that okay? I'm supposed to be protecting her, not falling in love with her! I mean, I do love her, but if my feelings come in the way of keeping her safe, haven't I failed as a protector? I can't allow that to happen._

While Setsuna was preoccupied with the moral struggle in her head, Konoka moved behind her. She reached around to her front and placed one of the leaves across Setsuna's breasts. She pressed the giant leaf firm against the other girl's sides and scooted her hands along the green material until her hands met in the back of the charcoal-haired girl's back. She effortlessly tied a knot with the surprisingly pliable leaf, tugging it tight to make sure it stayed. "Legs apart."

Setsuna's mind was racing between tense excitement, and shameful nervousness. _I can't believe ojousama is doing this. It's my fault that we ended up in this mess. I was the one who wanted to come to Evangeline's resort. And now, because of me, ojousama has to touch me in inappropriate ways. I'm so ashamed… And yet, I'm glad it's her. No one has ever been this close to… me before, and I can't imagine anyone else… That is, if I had to choose someone, of course it would be Kono-chan. But, is it okay to be happy about this? What's going on? What do I do? What…?_

"Secchan, you can put your arms down now. See for yourself. It wasn't that bad, was it?" Konoka's voice snapped Setsuna back to the present. She looked down and realized that sure enough, she was now clad in a natural bikini of sorts, identical to the one her friend wore. She touched the material here and there to adjust the fit, but on the whole, it wasn't too bad. _If only figuring my feelings out was this easy_, she thought to herself.

She flashed a simple smile and said, "Um, thanks, Kono-chan. I appreciate it. Now, how about we go find our real clothes, eh?"

Konoka seemed to shake her head as if forcing herself out of a day dream and smiled brightly at the swordswoman. "Okay! I'll lead the way." And she promptly dashed into the jungle, leaving Setsuna to follow her.

Rolling her shoulders, the charcoal-haired girl started after her possible love interest. "If only this thing wasn't so damn itchy…"

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you for reading Chapter 3. I really love writing Evangeline-I might have to figure out how to fit her in more often... I hope you are enjoying the story so far! It got a little risque, but it's just getting started! Please leave a review or PM if you would like, and I will try and respond to all of my mail! In the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

After several minutes of venturing into the jungle, Setsuna and Konoka found a small trail cutting perpendicular to the direction they were heading. Setsuna suggested they take it, seeing as directional searching is always better than aimless wandering. Konoka happily agreed and set along the trail spritely. As she followed the younger girl, Setsuna found herself more engrossed in the motion of Konoka's hips in the makeshift green "cloth," than in watching her surroundings. Konoka, while ditsy at times, held the serene grace only the heritage of nobility could offer. It might have just been Setsuna's perception of her skewing her judgment, but she felt that way nonetheless. _Compared to her, I'm nothing more than a blundering servant, not even worthy of mentioning in the same breath, lest it tarnish the beauty of her name._ Abruptly, the charcoal-haired girl caught herself being sentimental and refocused herself on the dense vegetation on either side of the trail. Periodically, however, she would steal a glance at the rhythmic sway of Konoka's hips, finding herself quite attracted to the sight of her friend's lower reaches.

Konoka on the other hand, was sharply on the lookout for their clothes. Not that she necessarily wanted to find them all that much, she enjoyed her vegetative garb, despite its lack of comfort. Plus, Setsuna rarely showed much skin at all. She was one of the few girls in the class that constantly wore spandex shorts under her red-plaid school skirt, being exceedingly embarrassed when anyone even glimpsed her panties. _For such a strong girl, she sure does have a lot of reservations. Could it be that she doesn't know she's attractive? Or is it just her Shinmeiryuu training? Do they teach their students to refuse all physical self-confidence? That's so mean! Maybe I can try to break some of those barriers down._ The chocolate-haired girl considered how she might go about doing that until the two came upon a section of the trail where the vegetation had started to cover up the small footpath. The shrubbery was too dense to walk through comfortably, especially with so few clothes on. Konoka looked to her protector somewhat worriedly, hoping she would have an answer.

Setsuna sighed heavily, regretting that she had not brought Yunagi with her. Grudgingly, she found a sturdy branch on a nearby tree and broke it off. Swords were preferable for Shinmeiryuu techniques because the sharp edge allowed a trained swordsman to focus his Ki with little effort. Blunt objects, especially dead ones, required a much greater focus, and were much less efficient, with most of the Ki simply going to control the projectile attack from the object. "Stand back, Kono-chan." She squared up with the shrubbery in front of her and raised the branch as she would her sword. She focused her spiritual energy on the branch, making it as an extension of her arm; the shrubbery a demon to be slain. "ZANGANKEN!" she shouted as she swung the branch down hard. A bright crescent of energy sliced its way through the vegetation, and the branch splintered into pieces, leaving only a smoking stub in Setsuna's hand. Setsuna eyed the wide trail cleared by her attack. _Perhaps I overdid it a little. Oh well, it's not like there are any animals here to hurt._

She was brought out of her musings by the other girl, "Secchan, look! A waterfall!" Setsuna looked beyond the trail and saw that it indeed led to a spring fed by a waterfall. The water looked pristine and inviting. "Let's go Secchan!" Konoka hurried down the trail in the direction of the spring, Setsuna close in tow. They made their way quickly to the edge of the water. The spring appeared to be hewn of out the surround rock, with an occasional boulder here or there. It didn't seem quite natural in the jungle they were in, but Setsuna chalked it up to it being a magical machination of Evangeline. _If she could create an island in a bottle where a day is an hour, then why not have a pool carved into the stone fed by a waterfall?_

As Setsuna was marveling at Evangeline's creativity, Konoka cautiously approached the water and stuck her foot it. She found it pleasantly cool, but not too cold. Overall, refreshing compared to the maybe 28°C of the air. She slipped herself in the water, about waist high, and splashed a little at Setsuna, getting her legs wet. "C'mon Secchan, it feels wonderful!"

Setsuna jumped at the cool water hitting her and raised an eyebrow at Konoka. "Oh, so you want to splash? I see how it is. Well watch out!" Setsuna dove into the water next to the other girl, and splashed the top of the water until Konoka was completely drenched.

Konoka gasped in surprise, "That's not very nice Secchan." Her authoritative sound was lost through a giggle, as she repaid Setsuna with a big splash of water to the face.

The two played around in the water for a few minutes, then Konoka, for seemingly no reason, wandered off abruptly to another part of the natural pool. Setsuna only watched her move about in the water. _She's so innocent and childish. I've always liked that about her. She's not tarnished by the evil of this world. If only I could stay this way with her forever. Then I'd be happy. Truly happy._

"Secchan, come here!" Konoka was beckoning to her from the other side of the spring, not too far from the waterfall. Setsuna made her way through the water to waiting girl. In her opinion, nothing was harder than moving through water—maybe it was because she was a hanyou of the raven-tribe. Ravens, even raven demons, didn't like water. She felt as if each step she took used half again as much energy as normal. She didn't think she could fight very well, even in only waist deep water, if she had to. All of her movements were lethargic, and draining. Luckily, nothing was coming for them at the minute.

She eventually made it to Konoka who was now pointing with her open palm at something beneath the water. It appeared to be a curved stone that looked oddly like a chair, its seat under the water line and the back jutting out into the air. "Sit there." Konoka, still pointing, had something in between a grin and smirk on her face. Setsuna eyed her warily, but decided that following Konoka's orders would be the best thing to do. She carefully seated herself, wary of a hard landing, even if it was in water. Her bottom found the stone and she leaned back to rest against the reclined portion of the rock, finding it to be rather comfortable._ Evangeline sure thought of everything_, she thought with a small chuckle.

"Now spread your legs, Secchan."

Setsuna's eyes snapped to the other girl, confusion and embarrassment heavy on her face. "Wh—what? Why?" She leaned up in slightly guarded manner, her hands waving a small x in front of her. In her head she lamented. _What's ojousama going to do?! I'm too young for this, we both are. What's going on!_

Konoka only giggled at the charcoal-haired girl's reaction. "I only want to sit there dummy. Stop making such a big fuss." Clarity, and some relief crossed Setsuna's face, she still didn't lean back though.

"Even so, do you think that's okay? We're not even clothed properly… Kono-chan."

Konoka giggled some more. "Silly, who's here to see us? The trees? The rocks? No one is here but us."

Setsuna considered that fact silently for a moment. _I guess she's right. There isn't anyone to see us acting indecently, and if it's Kono-chan I don't really mind. It might actually be kind of nice._ Accepting that she really did want it too, she coyishly reclined and apprehensively cleared a space for her friend on the rock.

Konoka smiled deeply, her big, brown eyes sparkling from the light reflected off the water. Even with her long, wet hair plastered to her back Setsuna thought she was beautiful. The pinnacle of childlike innocence and youthful radiance. With a graceful, concerted motion she bent down and placed her small body in front of Setsuna, then leaned back so her shoulder nestled between Setsuna's breasts, her head snuggled up to the girl's neck.

"Isn't this nice Secchan?" She cooed in her ear. "We never have much time to just sit together." Setsuna had to admit that it was nice, feeling the girl's warm body against hers. She instinctively wrapped her hands around Konoka's waist to hold her close.

The older girl felt a little odd: a mix of anxious happiness and overwhelming attachment to the girl in her arms. Her heart was beating faster than normal. _This feeling… Could I even know what romantic love is? I'm half demon after all. But, I'm not sure what I'd do if I ever lost Konoka. Is that all there is to love? _Shaking her head slightly to dash the esoteric contemplations from her mind, she focused on her emotions. _Maybe I do love Konoka, and more than just as a friend, or master. This girl, _she thought as she cocked her head a bit to look at the girl now lightly dozing against her body, _this wonderful, beautiful girl means everything to me. When she smiles, all of my fears and doubts disappear. _Indeed, she often found herself working to make Konoka smile, savoring the moments when she did. _She makes me happy, and isn't that all that matters? Well, if I do love her then I have to confess to her. That would be the proper thing to do. _From somewhere deep in her subconscious, a sudden doubt leapt upon her. _But what if she rejects my… love._ She shook her head, more vigorously this time. _No, ojousama wouldn't do that to me, would she? But, if she doesn't love me back…_

Setsuna gazed down on her love with just a slight blush—this one caused by affection rather than embarrassment—and sighed shallowly. She decided she would never get the answer by just thinking it through, she would have to actually do it—confess her love to Konoka. Removing her hand from around the slight girl's waist, she stifled a yawn that seemed to come from nowhere. _I can confess later._ She closed her eyes and set her head against the younger girl's. Quickly her breathing slowed as she drifted off to a contented sleep there in the shallow water in Evangeline's resort. For a time at least, all was well in the world for Sakurazaki Setsuna.

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Author's Note: Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope you're having as much fun reading as I am writing! The couple is so cute, this is one of the real reasons I wanted to write this story. Please leave a review or a PM if you want, I'm having fun reading them!

Recently, this chapter has been pulling in the most views of any chapter! Just thought you guys might want to know that. It seems to be a favorite among the readers. If you have a different chapter I'd love to know which one it is! Now, in the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

Setsuna woke to a trembling in the rock she and Konoka were sitting on. The shaking started off small, but its vigor increased with every passing second. She instinctually tightened her grip around Konoka's body.

"What's going on Secchan? An earthquake?" The slightly smaller girl was awake and appeared very frightened. She clung to Setsuna's waist, little shrieks of confusion disrupting the otherwise silent air.

_First I have to get Kono-chan to safety, then I can figure out what's going on._ Setsuna figured that sitting at the base of a waterfall rolling off a sheer rock cliff was a bad place to be during an earthquake. She hurriedly looked for a better place to be, and found nothing but already shaky looking trees surrounding the pool. _Damn it. Well then I guess this is the only option._ Her white wings shot out of her back as she stood, only slightly off balance from the rocking of the earth beneath her. She swept a near hysterical Konoka into her arms and soared into the air as quick as her wings would carry them. When they were safely above the tree line, and by Setsuna's estimation out of any real danger, she turned around midair to survey the area they had just left.

As far as she could tell the earth around the little waterfall was still trembling, but as she looked further into the island, there was nothing to indicate there was anything out of the ordinary. _That's odd… An earthquake that only affects a half kilometer of ground? Is this something Evangeline set up? _Her gaze snapped back to the pool when she heard loud cracking noises.

"Secchan, the pool!" Both girls watched as something moved under the water. The massive object, nearly three quarters the size of the pool, was indistinguishable from the rocks forming the lip of the pool. As it broke the surface of the water, Setsuna realized why.

What rose of out the water reminded Setsuna of a lake monster, standing nearly 10 meters high. What was once the floor of the pool became the monster's back. The golem, built of pure rock, stood on legs of carved pillars of stone with strange runes carved into them. The rest of the body was solid and blocky. A face, ugly by any standards, seemed to be stamped onto the front of the rock, slightly skewed to the side. It had six thick black vines hanging from its rocky chest, presumably the ones previously keeping the atrocity tethered to the inanimate rock below it. Curiously enough, each one had, as far as Setsuna could see, a three pronged claw at the end. It was, without a doubt an overall ugly, deformed creation.

While the golem hadn't appeared to have seen the pair of them yet, it was sniffing the air creating weird, hollow whistling noises. Due to her Raven Clan heritage, Setsuna's sharp eyes caught the direction the golem was looking, despite the distance between them, and dove into a tree in the opposite direction, hoping they avoided being seen. She carefully landed on a strong looking branch and placed Konoka next to her.

Konoka pulled on the girl's wing to get her attention. "What is that thing Secchan? Why is it here?" Setsuna forced down the irrational happiness of her friend touching her wings and focused her eyes once again on the golem. She put a finger to her lips to silence Konoka.

"We have no idea how good its hearing is, so it would be best to stay quiet," she whispered.

The golem scanned the immediate area before turning slightly and walking to the waterfall. It stood beneath the falling stream of water and reached up to the rock wall. It began to climb the small cliff more deftly than Setsuna had imagined possible. When it reached the lip of the cliff it pulled its massive body slowly but easily onto the ground above. From there it started lumbering away from them, further into the heart of the island.

When the golem was safely out of eyesight beyond the cliff's ridge, Setsuna let out a sigh that was echoed by the chocolate-haired girl. "That was close. To imagine a creature like that being that graceful… There is strong magic at work here…" Setsuna looked troubled, something between a scowl and contemplative frown marring her face. Konoka did not often have to comfort Setsuna, but she saw that the other girl was in need of some now. She moved close to her protector and put her arm around the girl's body, right beneath her wings.

"It's okay, he didn't see us, so it's fine. We'll just be extra careful from now on." Konoka felt the other girl move her hand to cover her own, adding a little pat in appreciation of the gesture.

"Yes, we will. That was too close," Setsuna turned her head to look at her friend, "Too close to risking your life ojousama." Konoka looked a bit surprised, and flushed nominally. She looked into Setsuna's eyes with a look of slight pain.

"Yours too." Setsuna felt her face flush more profusely than the other girl's when she realized that Konoka had been genuinely worried for her safety. She gave a weak response of "Yes, mine too."

Reluctantly breaking eye contact with Konoka, Setsuna turned to scan the area. There was no sign of movement save the leaves fluttering in the half breeze. Once she deemed the cliff secure, she redirected her attention to the pool. She expected the water to have filled the small crater left by the golem, but was surprised when she could not see that any water had accumulated. Curious, she picked Konoka up, cradled in her arms and swooped down to the lip of what had been the pool. She went to set the girl down, but she wrapped her arms around Setsuna's neck, giving a slight shake of her head. Setsuna shrugged and continued to hold the still frightened girl, smiling on the inside at getting to hold her.

She peered down into the sizable pit left by the golem and found it to be not a pit, but a hole, smaller than the diameter of the pool, but large enough for three or four people wide to fit in. Water from the waterfall was streaming in, forever lost down the dark abyss. The most striking feature, however, was lack of light around the pit. It was as if there was something sucking up every ray of light that fell on the spot. Evangeline's resort was usually permeated with light, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. This spot was different though. Setsuna couldn't feel any spiritual or magical presence, but felt a tingling at her subconscious that something dangerous and very evil lurked at the bottom of that pit.

_Konoka can't be exposed to something this… evil. I must get her away from here. Someplace safe. _She hurriedly pulled Konoka away from the pit, wanting to be anywhere but there, only to find that she couldn't move her feet. Slight terror rang through her battle-tested mind as she warily looked down past the girl in her arms. Unbeknownst to her, whatever shadow was emanating from the pit had curved itself to encompass the rock beneath her feet. Her eyes widened as she watched the shadows engulf her feet. It was too late to scream as she felt herself being pulled, along with the girl in her arms, down the pit, into the darkness.

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Author's Note: Thanks for reading Chapter 5! This is getting good. It has been a little too fluffy for my taste, so let's get to the real fun stuff. Don't worry, there will still be plenty of romance and intrigue! Please feel free to leave a review or PM for me. In the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

As her body was swallowed up by the shadow, Setsuna's vision disappeared. It was as if someone had turned out the sun. She felt an immediate cold against her skin. Not the cold of cool water, it was more oppressive than that. She was suddenly filled with loneliness and despair. It was as if icy black fingers were digging into her brain, freezing away all happiness. She couldn't see Konoka, but she could feel her cradled there in her arms. She felt odd though. Her skin was cold and slightly slippery, like the girl was having chilled sweats. _I need to calm down and figure out what's going on. Maybe I should see if she is okay._ The winged swordswoman opened her mouth to call out to Konoka, but realized only then that she couldn't make any sound. Try as she might, nothing came out of her mouth. She tried moving but not a muscle twitched. Her horror intensified, magnified by the shadowy fingers on her mind. _This is not good! This is my fault. How could I have been this careless? Now Konoka is in danger and she might die! My fault. And I can't do anything to save her. What if we're falling down this pit and we hit the bottom. Then her death would be because of me. My fault. How could I let this happen…? All my fault!_

A sudden bump shook Setsuna back to reality. She could see again, although there was only diffuse light in…wherever they were. Setsuna took quick stock of the surrounding area. The girls had landed in an underground chamber of sorts, large and cavernous. The omnipresent light of the resort was dimmed, as if it was passed through a black filter before emanating. The weak light illuminated a floor of slick, shiny black stone. She searched for openings in the darkness, but found none except a pinpoint of light above her head—probably the hole they were pulled in from. Judging by how big the hole was, Setsuna figured they might be as far down as a hundred meters.

After deciding the immediate danger had gone, she checked on Konoka. "Are you okay, Kono-chan? Not hurt are you? I'm sorry about this, I was careless and got us into this…"

The slightly smaller girl had pushed herself from where she had landed on the ground and was absently wiping grime from her legs and bottom. She gave Setsuna a half-hearted smile. "It's okay, I'm not hurt." On the inside though, she felt empty and cold. Whatever that shadow was, it had the terribly awesome power to suck the life out of you. Konoka decided that that was the most absolutely terrifying experience she had ever suffered through. _I'm not sure I would have made it through that if Secchan wasn't right there too._ She huddled close to Setsuna not for warmth, but comfort. "Secchan, I'm scared… When we were pulled down the hole, everything went black for me. I felt so cold. And there was doubt. Doubt that we weren't going to be safe. Doubt that we couldn't escape wherever we ended up. Doubt that you might not love me…" She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at her friend. "And fear that I would lose you." Konoka shut her eyes and slumped to the ground crying, her emotions finally getting the best of her.

Setsuna took in all of what she was saying; different emotions battling for priority. First she wanted to comfort the girl, then empathize that she did feel the same sensations too. When Konoka mentioned loving her, however, Setsuna was caught a bit off guard. Was she really worried about the two of them? Setsuna had never been very honest with herself about her own feelings, even concerning Konoka. She loved her princess, but how? As her master, yes. But also as a friend, and something even more than that—whether she was allowed to by her heritage and purpose or not. At times, however, all three feelings of love battled against her oath of service. She was sworn to protect her ojousama, with her life if necessary. Nothing could trump that, even love. If they were together and she was killed trying to protect Konoka, what would that do to her? How could she move on? Setsuna struggled momentarily for a response. _No. It's better to leave things this way. It's for her protection. But, I can't explain that to her, she wouldn't understand._ Still struggling over the best course of action, Setsuna bent down, put an arm around the girl and pulled her close.

"Those feelings are gone now. It was just the shadows. It's over now, I'm here to protect you. Come on, let's search for a way out of here." She offered her hand to the girl. Konoka took it and stood weakly, evidence of tears still present on her cheeks. Setsuna reached out a hand and wiped the tears off her face, which produced a small smile from the chocolate-haired girl. It pained Setsuna unbearably to watch Konoka cry, especially because of her, but she would do what she must to keep safe the girl that she loved.

Setsuna refocused on the surrounding area. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the low light, she could see that while the cavern they were in was expansive, it was not endless. She thought she could pick out a gap in one of the walls that might signal a way out. It was far across the cavern floor, so she didn't want to waste time walking there. Luckily, her wings were still out. She scooped Konoka up again and flew over to the gap in the rock. It indeed appeared to be an exit—or at least a tunnel out of the cavern.

The charcoal-haired girl touched down as they reached the mouth of the tunnel, setting Konoka down on her feet. She peeked into the tunnel, even more dimly lit than the cavern was, and tried to figure out if they should risk taking it. The tunnel had an equal chance of leading them out as not, but Setsuna failed to see any other way out. She decided to risk it—she sure didn't want to try going back out the way they came. A year of walking was worth avoiding that hell. Stowing her wings, Setsuna put on her best look of confidence to soothe Konoka. "This should lead us back to the surface. Let's go." Setsuna grabbed hold of Konoka's hand and they started along the tunnel path.

After walking several minutes in silence, Konoka brought up some idle chatter, mostly about the other girls in their class. Apparently Hasegawa Chisame had been more present and vocal than usual, dogging Konoka almost daily about the whereabouts of Negi. If Konoka had to wager, Chisame-san had a crush on him, something Chisame was loathe to admit. She also brought up the book duo, Miyazaki Nodoka and Ayase Yue, who had been acting unusually despondent since their return from Mundus Magicus, especially when they were in class. It was like they were each missing something, and extremely distracted because of it. Konoka had even seen them arguing the other day—something those two never did. According to the normally bubbly girl, it probably had to do with Negi, but she wasn't sure. She did point out how ridiculous the two sounded arguing, Nodoka with her high, soft voice, and Yue with her unusually low, scratchy one.

"It actually seemed like more of a debate than an argument," said Konoka. Setsuna couldn't help but chuckle at that, imagining the two of them sitting at a broad desk laden with books, trading argument points about which one liked Negi more—although with their personalities, Setsuna wouldn't be surprised if they were arguing over why the _other_ girl should have him.

Konoka brought up the other girls acting odd inside and outside of class, all of whose problems seemed to revolve around Negi's absence, or in the case of Yukihiro Ayaka, both his and Asuna's absences. She let go of Setsuna's hand so she could talk with her own, making expressions and gestures to dramatize their various classmates. She also complained about Fate being their substitute teacher. He creeped everyone out, even the girls who didn't fight him in Mundus Magicus. Why did it have to be him teaching, not Takamichi, or someone else?

"He's just so weird! I always feel my skin crawl when he looks at me." Konoka held herself, rubbing her arms as if fighting off immense cold, despite it being usually warm in the tunnel. Setsuna took the opportunity to speak up.

"He isn't all that bad."

Konoka's brows bunched in confusion, she cocked her head at the other girl's comment. "Why is that, Secchan?"

Setsuna simply shrugged and tossed her head around, making her side pony-tail shake. "Well, he let us sit together in class right? So he can't be all that bad."

That earned a slight nod from Konoka. Enough to signal she agreed, to an extent, though she crossed her arms over her breasts and scowled. "I still don't like him."

Setsuna laughed quietly to herself. _Kono-chan can be so cute when she's angry._ She did not, however, want to spend all their time talking about Fate Averruncus, so she brought up the robot girl Chachamaru, who had been spending a lot of time with Negi recently. For a time the two girls debated whether or not the robot had feelings for Negi—apparently she had formed a pactio with the boy-teacher during the time they were in Mundus Magicus, but neither of them were around to see it. Once they agreed that she definitely did love Negi—maybe more than most of the other girls on his tail—the conversation shifted to yet more girls in the class.

The small talk lasted until something stopped Setsuna in her tracks. Konoka, who had been so engrossed in her drawling on about Murakami Natsumi and Inugami Kotaro that she walked five paces longer than her, cut her speech short and returned silently and quickly to Setsuna's side. A worried look appeared on her face. "What's wrong Secchan?"

Setsuna couldn't answer though, because she didn't quite know what was wrong herself. They had been walking for about half an hour along the tunnel, which didn't seem to change much. The same slick stone paved the floor, and the walls were as dark and rocky as they were when they had left the cavern. No, it was something else. On a hunch, Setsuna turned around and looked back the way they had come. As expected, the opening to the cavern was hard to see, but she could just make it out. What she didn't expect, was where in her vision she found it.

_That can't be right. We're going _down_?!_ Height was hard to judge with the compounding facts that there was little light and no skyline to make a horizon. Nonetheless, Setsuna was now sure the path had been sloping down since they had started along it. It was a gradual slope, otherwise she would have sensed it before, but the cumulative effect still put them maybe an additional 15 meters below ground.

_Well now what? We can't go back, this was the only way out of the cavern—and I am not risking going back up through the hole. But if we keep going… Where does this go? Well, I guess we have no choice._ She forced a small smile onto her face and turned back to Konoka. "Nothing's wrong. Just thinking. We must not be far from the exit now." She offered the girl her hand to hold, hoping she wouldn't see through the lie. "Let's keep going, shall we Kono-chan?"

Much to Setsuna's relief, Konoka either bought the lie, or was so excited to hold her hand she forgot about it. She slipped her small hand into Setsuna's and laced their fingers together, adding a little squeeze for effect. Setsuna took a moment to enjoy the warmth of Konoka's soft skin on hers before adding a squeeze of her own. Then it was time to hit the trail again.

It wasn't long that the couple walked in silence before Konoka spoke up, a hint of worry in her voice. "Secchan, why did you stop? And don't lie to me this time."

Setsuna very nearly broke stride in shock. _So she did see through it. Well it was pretty obvious… But Konoka is sharper than she looks often._ She glanced quickly at the chocolate-haired girl who was giving her a stern, yet pleading look. Konoka was the only person Setsuna knew who could make puppy-dog eyes and still glare through them, all while remaining innocently cute. _There's no way I can escape this. I'll just have to be honest with her._ Setsuna took a deep breath, and let out a long sigh. "I was checking the level of where the tunnel started compared with where we were just then. I realized we're headed _down_. This path seems to be descending, very slowly, but descending still. And I was trying to figure out what to do. I decided it was no use going back, and that we had to go forward."

After finishing her explanation, she shot another glance at the girl walking beside her, who simply nodded. "That makes sense. But Secchan, why is it lighter now than it was before?" Setsuna furrowed her brow at the question. _It couldn't have gotten lighter, could it?_ She looked down at her body and noticed she was able to see more definition in her skin than she had been able to before. She looked to the walls, which she could now tell were made up of a dark, bumpy stone, coarser than those lining their walkway. It had gotten lighter, but so gradually that she hadn't even noticed. _But what does that mean? In the resort, the light doesn't come from a single source, but there are still shadows. Tunnels should still be dark. What's going on?_

Setsuna looked further ahead along the path and found an area maybe ten meters ahead of them that looked different. After more than half an hour of nothing but the same rock on all sides, relief and excitement overcame Setsuna, who practically jumped to a run towards the anomaly. Konoka was on her heels the whole way, surprised, but not bothered by Setsuna's impulsive behavior. _It's a little too headstrong, but if Secchan found something, then we might just be out of this nightmare._

When the girls reached the spot Setsuna had eyed, they both cocked their heads in confusion at the sight. The tunnel sloped down sharply and the floor of slick black stone gave way to an even more polished surface—maybe made of metal, or some other smooth surface. Right in the middle was dug a channel about the diameter of the width of a human body. Konoka looked at Setsuna in disbelief. "A slide? What's a slide doing in a tunnel this far underground?"

Setsuna could only shake her head. She was wondering the exact same thing. As she peered down the slide's shaft, however, she could see light emanating from somewhere deep below. It seemed a bend in the tunnel was blocking their view of the exit, but it did appear as though this slide led to a way out—however that might be. Konoka spoke up, a bit too excited sounding in Setsuna's opinion. "So should we try it?"

Konoka was always one for fun, but Setsuna wasn't so sure. She didn't like to jump into anything, especially when it involved Konoka's safety, and _especially_ when she didn't have her sword with her. _But I don't really see any other option. We're pretty much committed at this point._ She slowly nodded to the other girl."I think so. It's our only option, so we might as well take it. You sit down on the edge first and I'll sit behind you. That way we can go down together."

Konoka positioned herself at the lip of the descent, and Setsuna sat down, stretching her legs to either side of Konoka. "Hold me Secchan, so we don't get separated." Setsuna didn't need coaxing this time, and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl's waist, linking her wrists tightly to make sure she didn't go anywhere.

"You ready Secchan?"

Setsuna's only reply was a quick "yes," followed by a small kiss on the back of the head for luck. With a jerk, Konoka launched them off the lip of the tunnel floor and sent them flying down the slide, down to the bend. Down to the light, the both of them screaming all the way.

* * *

A figure came out of the shadows of the tunnel wall, black cloak billowing despite the still air. Ribbons of black streamed from the cloak, souring the air they touched. As the figured peered down the shaft the girls had just used, a rasping laugh like the sound of dead leaves crinkling came from within the hood. The space the figure occupied blackened slowly and it was gone. A pitch black shadow crawled down the shaft and all that was left was darkness.

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Author's Note: Thank you for reading Chapter 6! This one was slightly longer than the other ones, but please forgive the delay. I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. Please leave a review, or PM me if you are enjoying it. In the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

Konoka and Setsuna were racing down the slide carved into the tunnel, wind streaming through their hair, going so fast Setsuna sure hoped there was a soft landing at the bottom. She had expected the slide to hurt, what with their mostly bare skin sliding against it, but it didn't. She still couldn't figure out what it was made of exactly, but it allowed them to slide with very little difficulty relatively painlessly. After the initial descent, Konoka had stopped her screaming. She was laughing a little now, seemingly enjoying the impromptu thrill ride. Setsuna had to admit that she was having a little fun—it was sort of like a huge water slide, but without the water. _Should I be enjoying something this dangerous?_

She moved her head out from behind Konoka's to look down to see where they were headed. They were moving quickly, and the gradual right turn was rapidly approaching. She stiffened her legs against Konoka's sides and re-adjusted her hands to grab Konoka's shoulders with her arms under the girl's armpits, bracing the two of them for the bank. She leaned both of them to the right as they entered the turn, hoping that was enough to keep them from flying out of the channel. Their forward momentum caused their bodies to ride up onto the side of the channel, but they weren't anywhere near flying out. Relieved that they weren't going to end up as bags of meat plastered on the tunnel walls, Setsuna focused ahead on what was hopefully the way out.

She didn't have to wait long, for as they rounded the corner bright light shone from a large opening. The sharp, immediate contrast in brightness nearly blinded Setsuna—as good as her vision was thanks to her Raven Clan heritage, one thing she struggled with was rapid changes in light levels. They were upon the opening before Setsuna could see what was on the other side, but a "Woah!" from Konoka gave her some clue that something was out there.

They plunged into the light and immediately Setsuna felt the blood rush to her head, like she was suddenly inverted. Moments after leaving the tunnel, her eyes adjusted, but everything was wrong. She was still sliding with Konoka down the channel, but everything else was upside down. The ground stretched out 15 meters above her head, and the sky formed a bright pool underneath, trees jutting down into it. Frantically she stuck her head past Konoka's shoulder, who had begun to scream again—although Setsuna couldn't tell if from terror or ecstasy. The scene before her confused her before she recognized the shape of the rest of the channel. It was shaped like a corkscrew, turning one and a half turns to right the channel's orientation before gently sloping down to the jungle floor. It reminded Setsuna very much like one of those roller coaster rides at the Mahora Festival—something that made her a little queasy. She could deal with the stress of endless hours of battle, but one amusement ride upset her stomach to near upheaval.

Suddenly they were in the corkscrew, gliding along quickly. The world seemed to right itself, and Setsuna felt the blood return to the rest of her body. Gaining the majority of her senses back, she realized in slight shock that Konoka had her arms raised above her head, screaming with wild abandon. _Apparently, she likes roller coasters…_ Setsuna rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself, feeling slightly better as they came out of the corkscrew. Although she began to enjoy herself, she was not unhappy when the channel approached the ground. Somehow the pair was slowing down, though not by anything they did. Konoka let out one final wooing sigh before lowering her hands. They came to a stop right at the bottom of the channel where there was a small lip and a step down to the soft grass. Setsuna started to relax her legs, noting their stiffness from gripping onto Konoka so tightly the entire way down. Reluctantly she let go of the girl's waist, a small pang of longing shot through her as the physical contact broke.

The small girl stood and bounced down the step, throwing her leaf-bikini clad body onto the small lawn of grass around the end of the slide, giggling her head off. Setsuna slowly followed, finding her joints unusually stiff. _Was I really that tense that whole time?_ With a quick cursory scan to ensure nothing was going to sneak up on them, she knelt down and sat next to the chocolate-haired girl. Konoka looked up at her, still giggling a little, a big smile plastered on her face. "That was fun Secchan! We should do that kind of thing more often!"

Setsuna gave her a somewhat mortified look, remembering all too well the affect it had on her stomach. She raised her hands slightly in a stopping manner, "I sorry, I think I'm going to have to pass." Konoka threw her head back in laughter at the girl's response. She knew full well that the charcoal-haired youth had a bad stomach when it came to fast rides, but liked teasing her.

As her laughter subsided, she stared up at the sky. Small, perfect clouds moved through the artificial air. They had only been in the cave for about two hours, but that was long enough to miss the sky—the sight of the clouds, the scent of the air. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply, shuddering at the end remembering the frightful moments of the last couple of hours. It was an experience she never wanted to repeat, but she had known that she was going to get through it safely as long as Setsuna was there. She trusted the swordswoman completely. How could she not? Setsuna had been given orders to protect her. Orders she would never abandon. If everything else in the world was transient, her protector's vows stood solid and strong, a wall against the storm, and a light amidst the darkness. She wasn't given to poetry often, but Setsuna's dedication inspired her. That was one thing she never had to question and that gave her great comfort. With her eyes still shut, she moved her hand to her left, searching her Setsuna's hand.

Setsuna was lost in thought, eyes moving from the end of the slide to the tunnel entrance and back, her thoughts much less artistic. Something didn't make sense. In the cavern, she had looked up and seen what she thought was the hole they came in through. That would make the cavern right-side up, and that made sense. Then in the tunnel they went down. That should have put them further underground, and that made sense. The slide also went down—which made sense too—but they ended up back outside, upside down. That last was the part that didn't make sense. She was thoroughly confused, and trying to wrack her brain for a solution to the gravity problem, when she felt something brush against her leg. She looked down and found Konoka's hand rubbing the top of her thigh, searching for something. Setsuna stole a glance at the girl's face and found that her eyes were closed. She moved her hand to cover Konoka's still roaming hand, quieting its motion. Setsuna felt the younger girl's hand invert and lace her fingers through her own. She felt a blush come over her face as Konoka's thumb started rubbing over the side of her hand in slow circles. The girl spoke softly, "Thank you Setsuna."

"What is there to thank me for Kono-chan?" Setsuna was still blushing, regardless of the fact that they were the only ones in the resort, and despite Konoka having her eyes closed. _I really need to gain control over my blushing…_

"For protecting me. For always being here. I don't know how I would have made it out of that cave if you weren't there." She opened her eyes to look at Setsuna. "So thank you, my knight." Konoka smiled at her and raised herself up on one arm. She moved her face close to Setsuna's and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Setsuna's blush—which she had brought under control momentarily—returned in full force as she felt her friend's lips on her own. Her warmth flowed through Setsuna, her taste tantalizing her senses. When the chocolate-haired girl pulled away Setsuna felt a pang of regret that the moment had not lasted longer. In that brief time, emotions had rage through her: shock, amazement, embarrassment, but also joy, comfort, and excitement. Her heart flew into her throat, and her face heated. But it ended as quickly as it had begun, leaving Setsuna caught between embarrassment that her best friend had kissed her, and wanting her to do it again.

Konoka had only pulled away slightly, leaving just about ten centimeters between their faces. Compared to Setsuna's surprised countenance, Konoka's dreamy expression belied the love she was feeling for her Secchan. Setsuna relaxed her body which had slightly tensed at the kiss and brought a smile to her face, greatly enjoying the way her friend, her princess, was looking into her eyes. Deep brown eyes met with intense black, and an invisible, indescribable electricity passed between them. Setsuna's heart rate elevated once more as she gazed into the girl's eyes, lost in their murky depths. Something caused her to move her free hand up to cradle the back of Konoka's head, her fingers laced through her silky brown hair. She pulled the younger girl towards her gently and kissed her once more, longer than before. As their lips touched, her eyes closed and she felt the elation of the first kiss with none of the regret. She belonged to the other girl, both as a tool and as a servant, but also as a best friend, and maybe even something more now.

Their moment was interrupted when the sound of rustling bushes came from behind them. Setsuna pulled her face away quickly and pulled her love's head protectively against her chest. She turned around the best she could while seated and focused on the bush, readying her stowed wings for flight. The bush rustled some more and Konoka buried her head between Setsuna's breasts, letting out a small squeal. Setsuna was ready. _Let's see who wants to take my princess away from me!_

A small, brown figure plunged out of the bush, and landed on four squat legs, curled tail wagging slowly as it sniffed the air. Setsuna nearly burst out laughing.

"It's just a pig Kono-chan!" She said to the girl still hiding her face in her bosom. Konoka slowly pulled her face up and peeked over Setsuna's shoulder at the animal who had wandered over to the left, sniffing the ground fervently. Setsuna could feel the girl shake with mild laughter as she watched the small pig.

"You scared me Secchan, with your 'Let's see who wants to take my princess from me!' It was cute though." She said as she smiled up at Setsuna, whose face rapidly turned a bright shade of red.

"You heard—I said that out loud?!" Konoka just smiled, nodding her head slightly. She ignored her blushing friend's stammering and concentrated on the pig, who had apparently found something in a bush off to their left, on the edge of the clearing they were in.

It was head deep in the bush, wriggling its backside in the air. Konoka stood and left a still flustered Setsuna. She wandered over beside the pig and squatted to see what the animal had found. After a few more seconds of wriggling, the pig backed out of the bush with something hanging over its snout. Konoka's eyes widened when she realized what it was that the pig had found. With a snarl too cute to be mistaken for real, Konoka snatched the article from the pig's snout.

"Secchan! The pig found my panties!"

Setsuna's attention snapped to the girl and the animal in slight confusion, her blush remaining bright on her face. "Th—the pig found _what_?"

The younger girl simply held the pink undergarments up to the other girl as she looked further into the bush for something more than panties. Setsuna diverted her eyes from the undergarments in the girl's hand and tried unsuccessfully to restrain her desire to peek. It wasn't long before she heard a happy squeal from the panties' owner, however. She backed herself out of the bush, carrying a jumble containing not only her own clothes, but Setsuna's as well.

"I found them Secchan!" Konoka shone a bright smile at her friend and began to set the articles of clothing out on the grass, counting each piece put down. As she placed the last—her maroon Mahora Academy jacket—she frowned. "We're missing something."

Setsuna hadn't been paying attention to the actual sorting of the clothes, but rather the girl doing the sorting. "What are we missing?"

Konoka gave her a slightly concerned look. "Your panties… It's strange, why would there be all of our clothes here, except…" With a sudden realization, Konoka looked up at Setsuna, who had come to the same conclusion just ahead of her. Both girls snapped their heads to look at the pig who was trotting off in the direction it had come, a hint of blue cotton hanging from its mouth.

"After that pig!" Konoka screamed as she sprung up from the grass and darted after the swine, leaving Setsuna to quickly gather up their clothes into a small bundle and rush after the girl. As she ran after Konoka, slight distress played across her face. _I really liked that pair of panties…_

* * *

Author's Note: Hey everyone. Thank you for your continued support for this story! I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. It is a little slow, but important development for later on. Please leave a review or a PM if you so choose. I would really appreciate it, and others can testify that I strive to answer/respond to anyone who contacts me/writes a review. Also, sorry for submitting this chapter before proofreading it. That's was you get for doing things early in the morning right? It should all be fixed now! Thanks again for reading. In the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8.

The girls quickly caught up to the pig, who seemed too lazy to try and get away, and Konoka nearly pounced on it. She got a finger on the material in the pig's mouth and attempted to free the light blue undergarment. What she ended up with was a ripped shred of cotton hanging limply from her finger. She slumped to the ground in defeat as the pig took the opportunity to escape, dashing faster than Setsuna had figured possible for the stout swine, oinking to high heavens.

Konoka tossed the strip of destroyed underwear to the ground, distinctly pouting. She lowered her head in dejection. "He got away Secchan. And he made me rip your panties… I'm sorry…"

Setsuna shook her head, smiling, at the over reactive emotion coming from her princess. Konoka's emotions were somewhat like a roller coaster: she could be excited to bursting one moment, then as mopey as if the sky had fallen the next. Setsuna patted the top of the girl's head affectionately. "It's alright Kono-chan, we'll just have to buy me some new ones when we get out of here." Setsuna's mind halted, going over what she had just said. _Did I really just invite her to go panty shopping with me?_ She silently berated herself for being so forward, at least until Konoka smiled up at her with slightly watery eyes.

"Okay, but since I ripped them, I'm going to replace them," she said with a flash of mischief running across her face. When Setsuna tried to protest she quickly interjected, "I insist, Setsuna."

That settled it. Konoka rarely used her real name these days, it was always her pet name: 'Secchan.' Setsuna didn't mind of course, as long as it was only Konoka using it. It was cute when she said it, insulting when it was someone else. So when Konoka used her real name, Setsuna knew it was important to the girl, something not to be fought over. Instead, Setsuna smiled down at her master, saying simply "Of course, Kono-chan." That elicited at big smile from the girl as she got up and threw her arms around Setsuna's neck, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. Blushing, Setsuna shifted the bundle of clothes cradled in her right arm. "For now, why don't we just get dressed, huh?"

Konoka pulled away from her friend and took her clothes from the bundle, setting them neatly on the grass under her. Setsuna moved a small distance away from her and placed her clothes on the ground as well. To her slight surprise, and even slighter disappointment, Konoka had turned away from her so she could only see the younger girl's backside. With a deep breath, she turned her attention to herself and reached behind her to loosen the knot Konoka had tied to keep the bikini top on. She found that despite a few hours of activity, the knot had held rather tightly. _Konoka has some serious skills I didn't know about._ She then considered another option, frowning. _Or maybe it's still tight because my chest is so small, the motion didn't disturb the fit._ She knew she was pretty small in the chest, especially compared to a lot of her classmates, but that was something she couldn't change. _Damn that Chizuru, always flaunting herself about, making us all look bad. Kaede-sama, and Iincho too…_

Dealing with knots behind her back was not her forte, but she eventually got it to loosen and the folded leaf material fell to the ground, exposing her chest. She moved her arms to cover herself instinctively, rubbing the insides of her arms against her breasts, redoubling the unhappiness at their small size. She stole a quick glance at Konoka who had completely de-clothed and was starting to put on her bra, a white lacy thing—much more mature looking than Setsuna had guessed Kono-chan would wear. Her eyes strayed down to her friend's bottom, the supple curves of youth framing a slender set of hips. Setsuna was strangely drawn to Konoka's curves and had to shake herself to stop her ogling. _How indecent. She turned away from me for privacy and I betrayed that because I wasn't strong enough, and gave into lustful thoughts. How wrong of me. I shouldn't take advantage of ojousama like that… She's so sweet and innocent. I'm being just like that __lecherous _traveling monk from that anime that Konoka always likes to watch… What was his name? Hiroku? Miroki? Something like that... But still, it's not right to do that to her, regardless of how much I want it. 

That last thought jarred her slightly, and she stopped to consider it. She had obviously accepted her feelings towards the girl, but when? _People would always talk about love at first sight, but I knew ojousama long before I loved her. Do these feelings really just slip into you without your mind realizing it? Does love infect you before you even realize your guard is down? Is my love for her really affecting me that much? I can't let it affect my commitments, both to Konoka, and to Negi. I'm a Ministra to both of them after all._ Silently she steeled herself, making a fist with her hand in a moment of renewed purpose._ I must be strong for both of them, this I swear. _As she lowered her fist, she glanced back over at Konoka who was already clothed, her school uniform donned and the broad leaves lying abandoned at her feet. Setsuna watched her lean down at the waist and pull her panties up around her supple legs. Her eyes followed the piece of pink cotton until it disappeared under her skirt. Konoka's hands went to the front of her body and pulled the underwear up all the way, then with one deft motion borne of a life of practice moved her hands behind her, pulling the material up to cover her butt. Smoothing her skirt out, she twirled around.

Setsuna's eyes flicked up to meet hers as the chocolate haired girl spun to face her. Her bright smile faded slightly as she looked Setsuna over. She then burst out giggling. "Silly Secchan, you were supposed to get dressed, not watch me!"

Setsuna's heart dropped to her stomach. She threw her hands up in protest, a blush settling in her cheeks. "But—I wasn't—I was just…" As the older girl stammered, Konoka approached her with a mock pout, pulling a hand up on bopping her on the head.

"Lying's not nice Secchan!" Something between a grin and a smirk crossed Konoka's face. "Now, since you got to watch me dress, I get to watch you."

The blush that graced Setsuna's face intensified ten-fold, radiating heat like the sun. Her mind jumbled in a tangled mess of thoughts, strangely devoid of a solution to the current situation. After a pleading look at Konoka, she could tell that the girl wasn't going to budge about it, so she might as well get on with it. Interestingly enough, she didn't feel the normal reaction to the situation. Her heart was racing, suggesting that some part of her wanted Konoka to watch her dress. Staring intently at the ground, she filed away the odd feeling to deal with later as she moved her hands down to untie the bottom of her leaf bikini.

As she proceeded to unclothe and then re-clothe herself, she felt Konoka's eyes on her, searching over every portion of her body. She wasn't used to people seeing her naked, even if it was her ojousama. The natural shame and embarrassment was muted though, battling with another emotion she didn't quite understand. Excitement might have described it, but the feeling was more timid than that. At the risk of looking awkward, she hurriedly picked up her bra, and slipped it over her shoulders, so flustered that she couldn't get the clasp fastened. After several seconds of fumbling around with it she swore under her breath. Konoka giggled and asked cutely, "You need help with that Secchan?"

Without waiting for an answer she moved behind the charcoal-haired girl and fastened the clasp. Setsuna jumped as she felt Konoka's hands move around to embrace her from behind, right underneath her breasts. "There you go silly." Konoka placed a quick kiss on Setsuna's shoulder and gave the girl a light squeeze before releasing the embrace and wandering off to look at some flowers growing nearby, humming tunelessly yet beautifully.

Setsuna, stunned by what just happened, took a moment to collect herself. _So Konoka saw me naked. But she didn't react badly, and she even helped me when I was so nervous I couldn't think straight. And it felt really nice to have her hold me like that… _She looked down at the pile of clothes still resting on the ground. _Anyway, I guess I should finish dressing._ She lost herself in her friend's soft music as she pulled on the rest of her clothes, satisfied that her hands were much steadier than before.

When she finally slipped her school jacket over her white button-up she turned around to the young muse, who had picked a yellow flower from the jungle foliage and placed it delicately in hair above her left ear. She was still engrossed in the natural beauty of the flowers. Setsuna could only admire the radiant scene before her. It seemed like Konoka never tried to look pretty, she just did. She knew she was lucky to love such a beautiful girl.

It was hard for Setsuna to interrupt her humming, but they only had a few hours left in the resort. "You ready to move on Kono-chan? We haven't actually enjoyed the resort yet." Konoka looked up from the flowers dreamily. Instead of replying she simply stood and bounced to her knight's side. She wrapped her arm around Setsuna's as they started off into the jungle forest.

Konoka rested her head on Setsuna's shoulder and spoke softly, "You're wrong Secchan. I've enjoyed every minute here with you."

It was lucky that Konoka wasn't looking at her, lest she see the blush gracing her cheeks. Her heart beat faster, climbing into her throat. A sudden warmth came over her as she felt the girl tighten her grip on her arm. After a few seconds she responded.

"Me too, Kono-chan," adding a small kiss on her forehead. The two continued in the direction of the water, arm in arm, feeling closer than they ever had before.

* * *

The time was soon. But time was relative to the figure under the hood. Even here, trapped in this prison of glass and magic, eternity happened in an instant, the vastness of a moment stretched on forever. There was nothing and everything, all life in the galaxy united in a single glorious existence—one rapturous whole—yet broken and shattered into its many parts. Light penetrated the darkness which swallowed it whole, leaving a brilliantly bright void of blackness. To a lesser mind these thoughts—these facts—were nothing more than contradictions, but to the Mage of the Beginning, nothing was impossible. Yes the time was soon, and he couldn't wait.

* * *

Author's Note: Hey guys. Thanks for reading this chapter, and continuing to support my writing! I've got a few more followers now that the story is this far along and I want to thank all of you that liked "Barriers" enough to follow the story! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, especially the end with the Mage of the Beginning. I hope you liked it too! In other news, I have a new poll up that you can vote on. It's posted on my profile page (I hope), so please participate if you so choose. As always, please leave a review or send me a PM if you liked it, or have any other concerns/comments/questions. Thank you all for your continued support! In the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt

P.S. Oh, and kudos to those of you who got the Mass Effect reference in this chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9.

The two girls strolled through the jungle forest in relative silence, enjoying each other's company. Setsuna kept her guard up, she had become wary of the resort since their last ordeal, but she made sure her intermittent surveillance didn't interfere with their companionship. Konoka had let go of her arm and chosen to simply hold her hand, which Setsuna didn't mind. After all, it left her freer to respond if anything did happen. _With something made by Evangeline, I guess we'll never know what to expect._ Konoka stopped occasionally to point out pretty flowers, interestingly shaped rocks, or ancient looking trees. Every time, Setsuna focused more on the girl than on the thing she was pointing to. Eventually, the trees thinned and they found the beach that stretched the perimeter of the jungle island. Upon seeing the glistening water Konoka let go of Setsuna's hand and rushed onto the beach, jumping with more enthusiasm than Setsuna expected her to have, considering they hadn't had more than about an hour of sleep in what amounted to a full day since that morning in the real world.

On the beach, Konoka pulled off her jacket and set it on the sand so it wouldn't get wet, then ran, splashing into the water. She stopped when the water reached her knees and turned back to face Setsuna. "Come on Secchan! The water feels great!"

Setsuna never understood why the girl had so much energy, not unlike most of the rest of their class 3-A. With a slight grin she thought to herself, _I suddenly understand why Chisame-san is always annoyed at the other girls…_ Shaking off her bemusement, Setsuna jogged down to join Konoka, pulling off her own jacket and placing it over her love's. She saw Konoka's bright smile inviting her into the water, but right as she moved to join her, a great shadow eclipsed the surface of the water. It swept up from behind Konoka and covered her in darkness. Setsuna watched in horror as the water around her turned from crystal blue to roiling, violent red. A figure she knew all too well rose out of the shadowed water behind Konoka. His black robe billowed around him despite the lack of wind. Ropes of shadows clawed their way out from his back, sucking the energy from the sky. An immense weight of tainted spiritual energy bore down on Setsuna, who could only stare, paralyzed from shock, at the Mage of the Beginning levitating above Konoka.

For a moment there was nothing. No sound, no movement, no time, nothing. Then a scream from the chocolate-haired girl pierced the silence when she turned to see the cloaked figure above her. Setsuna snapped out of fear and back to readiness, letting her wings erupt out of her skin and rip through the back of her white button-up. _Why is _he_ here?! Negi and Asuna defeated him! That's why they had to leave Mahora for now: to go find him and end it! What's going on?_ She tried to calm down, emotions always got in the way of combat. _This is bad. It took both Negi and Asuna to beat him in Mundus Magicus, and I don't even have a weapon. I need to get Konoka away from him... If I fly, I might just be able to get her away._ Setsuna readied her snow white wings for flight, but as soon as she launched into the air, a thick band of shadow burst from the hooded figure's cloak. It wrapped around the chocolate-haired girl's abdomen and pulled her into the air. Konoka let out a gut wrenching scream as she was raised up out of the water.

The hooded figure brought the girl close to his face. The hood cast shadows on his face, concealing his identity, but that only served to make Konoka more fearful. As she stared into the empty void under the hood, she heard a raspy voice laugh, the sound of it as dead leaves crumbling underfoot. The crackling laugh turned into a roar as the figure stretched its arms out to either side, his voice less of a leaf crumpling and more of a stand of trees falling down to the ground.

"The time is now!" Two bands of shadows extended towards Konoka and wrapped themselves tightly around her wrists. Two more bound her ankles. The one wrapped around her middle unraveled and seeped back into the hooded figure as the girl was lifted high into the air. It appeared that the dark mage was watching her placement, making sure she was in just the right spot. When he had her right where he wanted her, he turned his head back to Setsuna, who had touched down and fallen to her knees in despair. _There's no way I can beat him. But he has Konoka! She's in danger! I have to do _something_! But I—I can't win against this kind of power, especially unarmed…_

The hooded figure cackled at her, the sound of breaking, dry leaves returned. "Get up weak one. Come challenge the darkness and the light. The power of the void shall consume you. An absolute vacuum will enter your soul, and you will become full with its sustenance. Time will stand still as each minute passes. Come, join this divisional unity." Setsuna couldn't make sense of his words, but she saw he liked talking. Maybe there was a way to end this without having to fight unarmed.

She lifted herself unsteadily to her feet, putting on the best act of courage she could muster."Why are you here, and what do you want with ojousama?!" In her fright she forgot to use Konoka's real name, but she knew the semantics of names didn't matter right now.

Laughing derisively, the shadowy figure spat back an answer, lowering his arms. "Want? It is not a question of want, but of time. The time is here, and it must happen now. It might happen in the past, it might have happened in the future. But the present lasts only for the briefest of eternities, and it must not be squandered, lest it recur. And the Mage of the Beginning does not appreciate waiting." He seemed to pause, presumably waiting for Setsuna's response. Between the immense and tainted spiritual energy the dark mage was producing, and the endless string of riddles, Setsuna was having an understandably hard time coming up with an answer. She persisted on though.

"Time for what? You still have not told us!" She gave the figure wrapped in a shadowy cloak the strongest look she could muster.

A sigh reminiscent of a small storm blowing through a cave was released from behind the hood. "Everything. Time for everything, and nothing. A beginning, but also an end. Yes, it will be _a_ beginning, but not _the _beginning. There are many beginnings and this is just one. One that contains many ends, and yet only one recognizable end, others to be revealed later. Now come, for I grow impatient!"

With that the shadows around his head formed spears and hurled themselves at Setsuna. Even burdened with the force of his spiritual presence, she was still able to dodge the spears, maneuvering this way and that, but the footing was difficult on the soft sand. Her last move to her left had left her a little off balance and she couldn't get out of the way of the final shadow-spear before it grazed her side, tearing her shirt and taking more flesh with it than seemed possible for a glancing blow. The only consolation was that the wound had somehow cauterized—there was no blood to speak of. But as soon as she shifted her weight to balance properly, a burning pain shot through her body, seeming to come from the fresh wound. Fortunately she was used to pain from her Shinmeiryuu training. She tried to focus through the pain but a scream broke her concentration.

"SECCHAN! What have you done you bully!" Setsuna looked up to see Konoka struggling uselessly against her shadowy bonds. The look of hate was a rare sight on her face, but it was there in full, directed through crying eyes at the dark mage. He was apparently ignoring her completely, withdrawing the shadows into himself slowly, so she turned her attention to Setsuna. "Secchan! Are you okay? How bad is it?" She looked as close to the point of hysteria as Setsuna had ever seen her.

"I'm fine Konoka, really." She lied to Konoka to keep her calm. _No point in frightening her more. _Setsuna covered her injury as best she could with her hand and turned her attention to the hooded figure. She called out to him with the best pleading tone she could muster, desperately trying to find a way out of the situation. "Mage, would you really fight an unarmed opponent, helpless to fight back?"

The shadow cloaked figure paused, then laughed—a darker, coarser laugh that sounded like a spade being dragged through gravel. "So a weapon is what you desire. A tool of war to bring peace. Peace that is but an illusion, yet solid in its foundation. Yes, you may have a weapon." He outstretched an arm and turned a pale hand, palm side, up towards the sky. The wind seemed to gather at that spot, and a whirlwind of light and shadow began to rage above his palm. The warring elements concentrated until they became as one, a single point of unity. Suddenly, the point detonated, sending forth a shockwave that nearly knocked Setsuna off her feet. She covered her eyes as she looked back up at the mage's hand. There was now two lights emanating from the point—a pure white light shining towards the water, and a black void of darkness creeping into the sky. The two lights separated vertically and what was left made Setsuna gasp. It was an exact replica of her sword Yunagi, except with a snow white hilt, and a pitch black blade. How the dark mage knew what her sword was like, she couldn't guess, but if she was going to be given a weapon, she knew she had the best odds with _her_ weapon.

Momentary joy quickly turned to wariness as the hooded figure grasped the hilt of the sword and flung it, blade first, at Setsuna. She was able to dodge this time, and the blade dug into the sand at her feet. She reached down and freed the sword from the sand. She tossed it back and forth in her hands, feeling the weight. _It's a bit light, but I guess that's better than too heavy. If it holds up, it might even be better than the real Yunagi._ She set her jaw and readied for battle, her new sword raised in front of her.

"You want to take Konoka away from me? I can't let that happen. I have a promise to keep!" She launched into the air and flew at the mage, heading for Konoka. _If I can cut her down, then we can flee._ As she closed in on her love, a slash of shadow flew at her from her right. She spun down and to the left, easily avoiding the attack. Another shadow-spear came in from the other side, and again she rolled out of the way midair. More attacks came at her, but her agile wings allowed her to stay unharmed. She reached Konoka relatively easily and raised her sword above her head. With a roar she swung the sword down hard on the band of shadow.

But the blade didn't contact. It glided right through the shadow. She gaped at the bindings, completely intact, as her momentum tumbling her away from the bonded girl, sending her into the roiling sea.

Bobbing out of the water, she stared up at the unbroken bondage. A dry, grating laugh came from behind the hood. With a grunt of frustration, Setsuna launched herself out of the water. She wasn't done yet. She steadied herself in the air, focusing hard on the bands of shadows. There wasn't much room for error, with the girl so close to the bonds. Luckily, Setsuna had a technique to get around that. With a deep breath in Setsuna raised her blade in her right hand above her left shoulder. Her _ki_ funneled into the black blade. Years of arduous training in the Shinmeiryuu arts had prepared her for this moment. She was ready.

As she swung down and away, she shouted the attack's keywords. "ZANMAKEN NI-NO-TACHI!"

An unusual, dark crescent shot from the blade as the dark metal cut the air. The crescent of energy passed right through Konoka as expected, but then wrapped around the bonds and slowed. The slash of blackness vanished as its energy dissipated. Setsuna gaped at the failed technique. "What? It didn't work? How is that possible?" Her head snapped to the cloaked figure as he huffed, the sound of a thunderclap ringing in her ears.

"Silly girl. Do you really think that something borne of shadow can break the shadows? How foolish. Darkness is all encompassing. You _cannot_ destroy it." The dark mage added a small, coarse chuckle for effect.

Setsuna only scowled and shouted him. "I _will_ find a way to defeat you!"

The figure remained silent for a moment. Then asked candidly, "did you notice anything strange about your attack?"

It was only then that Setsuna realized something _was_ different. Usually the _ken_ techniques released white energy. This last one released black energy. Setsuna realized that it had to be the sword. Something about it was corrupting the purity of her _ki_. She scowled even fiercer at him. "Damn you! You gave me a tainted sword!" Though she could not see his face, she got the distinct sense that he was balking at her.

"Tainted? Hardly. Darkness and light cannot be tainted. The two coexist. One extinguishing the other. They fight. Though they both pervade every aspect of life, they cannot affect the quality of objects, nor events. You fail to understand this distinction, and that will be your undoing."

The hooded figure launched spikes of shadows at her, too many to maneuver away from. She was going to be hit. Frantically she parried as many as possible given their high velocity. She felt one bury itself in her thigh; another impaled her left arm. One grazed her cheek as she deflected it with the blade, sending it ripping through her right wing. The assault only let up when a fourth plunged itself deep in her stomach. She doubled over in pain, her mind numbing itself in response to the overwhelming stimulus. She fell to the shallow water, blood mixing with sweat and the saltwater beneath her. Far off in the distance, she heard a scream.

"SECCHAN!"

She struggled to remain conscious, hanging onto whatever part of herself was still there. Breathing came first, then thought. She knew who she was, and who she needed to protect. That was enough. Kneeling, she pulled the spikes out of her body, one by one letting them fall into the water. She placed the point of the blade in the sand under the water and leaned on it to stand. Unsteadily she glared at the dark mage. She could go on. She had to go on. For Konoka.

"Impressive, weakling. But I have no intention of killing you yet. No, this time was meant for something else. Something else entirely." For the first time in the entire encounter, the hooded figure turned to face Konoka. He raised a hand towards the trapped girl and turned his head back to look at Setsuna. "This one, she is special to you. Insignificant in some ways, but the most important part as well. Tell me, what would eternity be like without her? What would a moment be in her absence? Would the darkness consume you? Would you spend night and day mourning over the instant you lost her? This, this is why I am here. And this is the time to find out. The eternity of this moment is here!"

With a booming laugh like a hurricane the dark mage sent a single black arrow piercing through the air, straight for Konoka.

Before Konoka could react, it impacted her, plunging into her heart. The chocolate-haired girl let out one final scream as the life flowed out of her, a growing red patch marring her white blouse. With the last bit of strength she looked towards Setsuna, her eyes watery and pleading, her mouth working with unspoken words. Then her body went limp. Her head dropped to her chest, the light that was always in her eyes went dull, and she was gone.

"NO! Konoka! NO!" Setsuna had stretched a hand up as if she could stop the arrow before it impacted. It fell to her side now as she watched her love die. Tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes and her voice cracked with emotion. "Why?! Why did you do that! You monster! No! Konoka, come back! You can't die. You can't… I never… I never got to tell you. To confess to you that I loved you. I love you Konoka! Now come back… Come back to me my love!"

Konoka's limp body didn't move. She didn't react. She really was gone. Forever.

Setsuna fell to her knees and gave into weeping. An emptiness filled her, a bleakness sought out whatever joy was left and snuffing it out of existence. Shaken out of focus, her injuries hit her anew. She had lost a lot of blood, and everything was going dark. She felt cold, so cold… but she didn't die. Something was keeping her alive.

With great struggle she looked up through watery eyes at the Mage of the Beginning. He had hovered over to her with his shadowy cloak billowing in the still air. He reached down with a pale hand and cupped her chin, pulling it close to his face. For the first time his voice sounded human. In fact, it had a familiar ring to it. "Now Setsuna, see what a moment of eternity is like without your light in the darkness." She caught a faint hint of a smile in the shadow of his hood before she felt a stabbing pain in her chest. The world around her grew blurry as she tried to make sense of mage's instructions. The cold seeped into her core as the last bits of life ebbed out of her.

* * *

As the girl crumpled to the ground lifeless, the Mage of the Beginning knew he had done his job well. He watched as a single yellow flower floated in the water. Two girls, two corpses, and a new beginning. Nagi Springfield grinned under the hood of shadows as he sank back into the water. _A new beginning indeed_.

* * *

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading Chapter 9! I had so much fun writing this part! I hope you enjoyed it as well. If you do like it, please review it, or shoot me a PM. Don't worry, this is not the end of Barriers! I can't say anything more, but please stay tuned! Also, please visit the poll on my profile if you have time, I would like some additional feedback. Thanks again and as always, in the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

Dark. The blackest night that no light could penetrate. As if all light was snuffed out. Snuffed like life from a soul.

Cold. The frozen wasteland that no heat could touch. As if all heat was doused in an ocean of ice. Doused like the warmth of a body.

Empty. The complete nothingness of a void in which no being could alight. As if all existence was shrouded in shadow. Shrouded like the emotions of a deceased girl.

A great vacuum of space stretched on in every direction, embodied in a place, but a place that was also not a place.

And a girl in that rather, the memory of a girl, floating weightlessly, yet burdened beyond comprehension. Bodiless, the memory existed in the emptiness, feeling nothing, seeing nothing. For a time, the girl's memory was the only thing in the void.

Eventually, after a brief eternity had passed, the memory started to solidify. Wispy remnants of limbs began to coalesce. As the total emptiness evanesced, she became more real. Her body formed from appearing smoke, barely visible in the darkness. More of her came into being until her entire body existed in the void. The shadow became flesh, recreating her body down to the last detail, from her charcoal colored hair to her snow white wings. Sakurazaki Setsuna was real in the void. But she didn't wake up.

Her body struggled to come back to life in the void. Despite the lack of oxygen, or air of any sort, her lungs began to expand shallowly. Her heart beat in slow, rhythmic pattern, creating the only sound penetrating the silence. Organs began to pump fluids through her body, replenishing vital blood to her starved extremities. Muscles rejuvenated, joints relaxed, and nerves fired. Soon, every organ was ready for life, all except one. The human brain, being possibly the most complex collection of matter in the universe, takes a long time to come back from the dead. Even more troubling is the fact that posthumous degradation of neural pathways means that what were once solid, personal memories and emotions might now be nothing more than a lost memory themselves. All of who you were might be lost in a single, cataclysmic fire, leaving only the ash and soot of what was your life at your feet.

But Setsuna was different. She had something to come back for. _She_ had something to live for, and _nothing_ was going to stand in her way.

Her eyes twitched behind their closed lids as her mind began stirring. The ocular movement increased as her grey matter fired frantic signals, desperately trying to restore the neural pathways. Re-establishing connections was harder than following them, so the strongest routes reconnected first, eventually giving way to less formed pathways. Had the cells the ability to reason, they might have stayed away from this approach as it altered the girl's personality irreversibly. The last, strongest emotions she felt in the last iteration of life became the dominant pathways, replacing old, broken ones. This was the new Setsuna.

The neural activity triggered dream like memories that flooded the girl's still mind. Her eyes twitched rapidly as what was left of her soul was plunged into something between a dream and a nightmare. Her still forming mind meant that good and bad memories were simultaneously resurrected, giving the dream-like state unprecedented dichotomy. Although, despite the clarity of the dreams, Setsuna's mind was barely able to comprehend them. Higher cognitive function hadn't yet returned to her, so the vivid images were not but a jumble of color and motion. Minutes passed, days, centuries, all in a moment. The colors got sharper, the motion more defined, and Setsuna's mind could start to recognize basic things in the dream. Images of her younger days flitted before her mind's eye. Training in the mountains of Kyoto at the Shinmeiryuu dojo. Meeting Konoe Eishun-sama, whose lips moved but no sound came out. He stepped and the most beautiful girl, about her age, was revealed behind him, holding onto his traditional style pants.

At the sight of her, strong emotions flooded her mind, as if a damn had just been broken upon seeing her face. Happiness and longing filled her to the brim. Suddenly the world shifted and changed. They were in a dorm room at Mahora that she vaguely remembered was Konoka and Asuna's. She was sitting on the edge of Konoka's bunk, with the chocolate-haired girl sitting on her lap, smiling brightly at her. A blush suffused her cheeks both in the dream, and in the void.

The dorm melted to reveal the memory of the time Konoka was captured by the Kansai Magic Association as well as by Fate Averruncus, her unconscious body being used for a ritual summoning of a gigantic demon. Her blood boiled with rage and fear. She tried to yell out but found her voice wavery and thin. Fate laughed a cold laugh, taunting her inability to speak. She lunged at him just as the dream changed again.

Black steel flashed across her vision, she barely had enough time to raise her hands to block the dark sword, finding, much to her relief, her own sword Yunagi in her hands. At the other end of the demon blade was a young, cute girl with a ghastly smile that never fully reached her eyes. Tsukuyomi stared at her intently, daring her to continue the fight. Setsuna remembered this fight. It was the last one before Negi and Asuna defeated the Mage of the Beginning to save the magical world. The thought of the evil mastermind behind the group named Cosmo Entelecheia shifted her surroundings once again.

She was spun into a memory so fresh, she could remember every detail crystal clear. It had happened only a moment ago, but it felt like another life. She saw her body, her own body, lying on the soft, wet sand. Blood was seeping out of her chest and mixing with the water in a sickening red slurry. She felt odd seeing her own body lifeless there in the sand. Quickly, she looked to where her love floated in the water. Setsuna moved over to her body and looked at her face. Her expression seemed serene. With the loss of blood her youthful beauty had lost its liveliness, but she was still pretty. Setsuna didn't quite know how to describe her expression; perhaps peaceful was the appropriate word. She hung her head over the lifeless body of her ojousama and wept. Dry weeping became wet as her tear ducts revived. Soon she was shaking heavily with sobs. Her thoughts came to her broken, both from overwhelming emotion and because she was dreaming.

_Why did this happen? Why her? Why?_ For a while that question was all that Setsuna could ask, sometimes screaming it into the still air of the void while dreaming.

After what seemed like hours, her tears dried and her thoughts cleared. She looked solemnly at Konoka's lifeless body and moved a hand to push a strand of hair from her face. When she touched her face, strong emotions of pain and sadness filled her. She realized she'd never be able to touch the chocolate-haired girl's face again, never be touched in return. She would never feel the happiness and warmth of her presence Her innocent smile gone forever.

Forever.

An emptiness more potent than that of the void consumed her. Infinity without the one she loved, reliving the memories they shared but never creating new ones. In a raw state of emotion she gave a bitter chuckle. _I don't know if reliving the memories of our time together is a blessing or a curse: constant reminder of what I couldn't protect._ She pulled the girl's body from the water and gave it one final embrace, hoping beyond hope that the gesture would revive the girl. But alas, there are dreams that cannot be.

Setsuna cradled Konoka in her arms and gave her a light kiss on the forehead. She spoke softly to the girl, who might be listening somewhere. "You'll never know how much I loved you. I never got the chance to confess to you, and I regret that now. Konoka… I love you. More than just a friend. You were special to me, and I can never thank you enough for the time we spent together. So thank you, my love." With that she placed one last kiss on her soft lips and scooped the girl up in her arms. She carried the girl over to the shore and laid her on the soft sand. Retrieving her own body, she placed the two side by side. _If this is a memory, then it shouldn't change. At least here we'll be together forever._ With a reluctant look back at the two bodies she forced her world to change.

The tropics gave way to their classroom at Mahora which she spent some time in alone. The next shift landed her in a memory of the magical world where she could feel the fake cat ear disguise on her head. Then onto meeting Negi sensei on the train to Kyoto on the class field trip. Shift after shift she moved through the memories of her life. Some were bright and vivid, others so muddled by time passed that she began to doubt that some of them were even her own. Memories came and went while she was suspended in the dream like state.

After a while the rate of the shifting increased such that she was moving between memories every few seconds. She made it through every part of her life she could remember, and some parts she didn't remember. When the last part of her life shifted out of focus, the memories started cycling anew, drawing her once again into their hold.

Time was funny in the void. She might have spent minutes absorbed in the dreams, or it might have been decades. In the end, it was a small eternity for her. A seemingly infinite amount of memories passed before her senses. After countless cycles, she began to only focus on the times spent with her friends, especially with Konoka, to keep her sanity. She smiled when she smiled, laughed when she laughed, cried when she cried. Every time a memory of Konoka shifted into focus, she became excited. When the moment passed, she steeled herself for the next one.

Eventually her mind grew weary and she let all the memories flow by, barely conscious of their passing. She felt so tired. She wanted to rest and have it all end. She felt herself slipping from the fabric of the dreams. _Maybe if I close my eyes for just a second, it'll all be over._ Despite the weightlessness of her body, the lids of her eyes felt heavy. The last shift came and went as she let her eyes close in the dream…

And her eyes opened to the bleakness of the void. Now there was truly nothing. No light, no sound, no stimulus of any kind except her own existence. She could feel her body, fresh and very much alive. She could hear her heartbeat, taste the saliva in her mouth, feel the softness of her own flesh. But that was it. No matter how hard she looked in any direction, all she could see was blackness. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound. Complete emptiness.

She called out in the darkness. "Where am I? Am I dead? What's going on?" No response came from the darkness. "Is anyone out there? Can anybody hear me?"

Nothing.

Setsuna cursed under her breath.

She spent a long time trying to figure out the nature of the existence she was in. It was a futile effort, for the void was a realm of existence so far beyond her own, she couldn't even imagine it. And yet, she was in it. In reality, her mind was fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding. There was no understanding the void, it simply _was_.

And she was stuck in it. Years passed. Decades. Centuries. And Setsuna survived. Her body grew old, withered, and died, only to be revived again from the ashes. Each time her mind came back, exactly the same as the moment she had first died, but with a new loneliness of another lifetime alone in the void. Despair consumed her. Darkness ravaged her soul, and she longed for a source of light. Once she thought she saw a spark, but it faded away moments after its apparition. She gave up on light, just as she gave up on everything around her. Everything except her love for Konoka. That was something she couldn't—no, _wouldn't_ give up. Each time she died and was born again in the void her resolve strengthened to keep Konoka centered in her mind, to make the girl her light in the darkness. In the vast expanse of time she prayed, reciting voiceless chants of "Konoka, for you I wait. For you I live. For you I die. You are my light in the darkness, and the darkness shall never consume you."

Cycle after cycle continued on until finally, after countless turns of the wheel, the cycle broke. This time, when her body disintegrated, no smoke came to reconstruct her body. The smoldering ashes of her body faded into oblivion and left her mind to permeate the void alone. After eons of the cycle, the sudden change might have surprised the once charcoal-haired youth, but an eternity of darkness dulls the curiosity. She spent the next hundred years as nothing more than loose thoughts clinging onto the final strings of existence until those too fell apart. What was once a lively, dedicated, loving young girl became as a memory to the void. It was still dark, it was still cold, and it was still empty. Transient existence often cycled through the great realm of Cosmo Entelecheia, but none left it so thoroughly changed as Sakurazaki Setsuna.

* * *

Author's Note: And here is chapter 10! I hoped you enjoyed reading it! This "Cosmo Entelecheia" arc has been really fun to write, so I hope you've enjoyed it! I know the story might seem slow, but I'm just getting warmed up! Please continue to support me and the intrepid duo as they find their way back to each other. As always, comments/questions/criticism/and praise is appreciated. Thank you for your support and in the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day."

-Grimbt


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11.

Something stirred within Setsuna as her body laid there on the hard wood floor of Evangeline's cottage. It was the stirring of wakefulness, her mind slowly recovering from a lifetime within the void. Her eyes fluttered open heavily, not seeing much beyond diffuse light. A deep groan escaped from her mouth as she felt a massive headache ravaging her mind. As she propped herself up on one elbow, she moved a hand over her brow, massaging her temples. _I haven't felt this bad in a long time_, she thought to herself.

Letting her hand fall she looked around the room she was in. In the half-darkness she could see the glass spheres of Evangeline's magic resort. _What? Why am I at Evangeline's cottage? I never come here. Not alone at least._ Her gaze drifted down to a body lying on the floor a few paces from her. As her eyes adjusted to the sight she recognized the chocolate colored hair. "Konoka!"

She moved swiftly over to the small girl, curled up in a ball on the ground. She turned the girl over to find her sleeping peacefully; shallow, easy breaths making her chest rise and fall rhythmically. Something tickled her brain as she gazed at her sleeping friend. She reached a hand to pull a strand of hair from Konoka's face.

When her hand made contact with the girl's face the events of the last few hours surged back into her brain. Their time in the jungle, getting trapped in the cave, wrestling with the pig, snuggling in the pool, dying by the hand of the Mage of the Beginning. Even her time in the void returned to her, those eons spent teetering between life and death, sanity and madness. She had lost everything, everything she loved, everything she wanted to protect. She couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks as strong emotions overwhelmed her. Her eyes clamped shut, trying to forget the resurfacing pain she had felt in the void. She shook uncontrollably with grief and pain.

Then Setsuna felt arms embrace her around her neck and she opened tear filled eyes to find Konoka smiling weakly up at her, tears welling up in her own eyes. "Welcome home Secchan."

Setsuna blinked through watery eyes and chuckled huskily. "Only you could die and be completely unphased Kono-chan." The girl holding onto her neck smiled but tears rolled down her cheeks as well.

"I missed you so much Secchan."

Setsuna wrapped her arms around the younger girl's body and pulled her up to give her a warm embrace. "I missed you too my love." The two spent a while in each other's arms, tears and emotion flowing freely.

After a long while they broke the embrace and sat there on the cottage's cold wood floor. Neither spoke for a time—words were hard to find after such an experience. Finally, Konoka spoke up, slight confusion playing across her face.

"Secchan, why didn't we die?"

Setsuna was surprised at the question until she stopped to think about it. _She's right, why didn't we die? Evangeline always said that what happened in the resort carried back over to the real world. And we _did_ die in there. So why are we here?_ She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud cry from somewhere upstairs.

* * *

Evangeline shot bolt upright in her bed.

"SHIT!"

She knew something had bothered her as she had gone to bed, and now she remembered what. The golden-haired girl leapt out from under the bed sheets and bounded down the stairs to the lower level. _Shit, shit, shit! I can't have their blood on my hands… Old man Konoe would kill me!_ She whipped around the banister, nearly slipping on the hard wood floor in her hurry. She leapt to the door that housed the resort and flung it open.

"Konoka! Setsuna! Are you guys all ri—" Evangeline stopped mid-sentence when she saw the girls in question on the floor in front of the crystal balls, Konoka wide eyed in surprise, Setsuna instinctively raising one arms to shield the chocolate-haired girl. The small vampiress let out an exasperated sigh as she leaned against the doorframe. _Thank God they're unharmed._

Behind Setsuna, Konoka spoke up."Eva-chan, what's the matter?"

Evangeline looked between the two girls with her usual sharp gaze and raised a hand in a beckoning gesture. "Why don't we have some tea?"

The two girls on the ground looked at each other and shrugged. Setsuna helped Konoka stand, noting that beyond the headache, her body felt no different than any other day. When the girl had stood, Setsuna put an arm around her waist for balance, and comfort. Evangeline watched Setsuna carefully before calling out to her mechanical Ministra over her shoulder. "Chachamaru, would you mind starting tea water for three in the kitchen?"

A faint, "Yes master" came from a room nearby. With a nod Evangeline gestured for the girls to exit the room.

"Head over to the kitchen and take a seat. I'll join you as soon as I change into something more presentable," she said while motioning to her Victorian era nightwear. As the still somewhat dazed couple left the room the small blonde proceeded to stroll majestically down the hall and ascend the stairs to her room. While she glided up the stairs she thought to herself. _I'm really not looking forward to explaining this to them. Ugh. Why does this always happen to me?_

* * *

Konoka allowed herself to be led by the waist to the kitchen a few rooms away. She was fully capable of walking on her own, but after her own time in the void, she didn't want Setsuna to let her go. The memories of the recent events swirled around in her mind, none clear enough to remember yet, but enough to impart an overarching feeling. She felt more tied to the girl holding her than she ever had before. Something had changed, but she couldn't quite put a finger on what.

As the two girls entered the kitchen, their robotic classmate greeted them in her usual, overly formal way. "Good afternoon Konoe-san, Sakurazaki-san." Without waiting for a response she continued. "Please, be seated. The tea will be ready shortly."

Setsuna gave her a small bow of her head. "Thank you Chachamaru-san." Setsuna's hand moved from Konoka's waist to one of the heavy wooden chairs. She pulled it out from the table and offered it to Konoka who sat gracefully, folding her hands in her lap.

Konoka watched her sworn protector seat herself, expecting her to make eye contact once she was comfortable. Instead, Setsuna kept her eyes on Chachamaru, intently watching the robot girl place tea bags in the empty cups. Slightly irked that her friend was ignoring her, she pouted cutely and lightly clapped Setsuna on the knee. The charcoal-haired girl jumped slightly and raised an eyebrow at her. "Something wrong Kono-chan?"

Konoka decided to tease her a little more—she didn't like being too serious all the time. "I was just thinking that we never got to have any fun today…" She hung her head in mock dejection. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Setsuna's eyes widen. _Hehe. Now she's going to stammer a response. Maybe something along the lines of 'you almost died! But of course, we could do anything you want.' _

Except that didn't happen. Setsuna instead just nodded, saying "yeah, you're right" flatly. Konoka was fairly surprised, and somewhat confused. She didn't have time to wonder however, as her thoughts were interrupted by Chachamaru setting down the tray with their tea on it. She glanced quickly at the tray, a nice floral design matching the cups and saucers their tea sat in, then back to the girl in the chair next to her. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with Setsuna. _Is she sick? Does she feel well? Should I say something to her?_

Her thoughts were disrupted again, this time by Evangeline strutting into the room, her scowl marring her otherwise pretty visage. She had changed into a light, old-fashioned dress with small ruffles on the sleeves and too much lace for Konoka's taste. _But it's just the sort of thing Eva-chan likes_, she thought.

Evangeline moved to the opposite side of the table from Setsuna and her and sat, glaring at the tea for no obvious reason. After picking up her cup and giving it a sniff she called out to her mechanical maidservant, who had moved to another room of the cottage. "What sort of tea did you make us Chachamaru? It smells dreadful!"

A small paused filled the room before the robot girl moved to the doorway and responded. "It's called Genmai Cha. It's traditional green tea steeped with cooked brown rice. I figured it would be something Konoka-san and Setsuna-san would like more than your standard tea, master." She bowed politely and retreated back into the other room. Konoka heard Evangeline mutter under her breath. Something about missing Earl Grey, whoever that was.

With a deep sigh she focused her attention on Konoka, a grave look in her eyes. She then looked at the knight, giving her the same look, then back to the healer. "We need to talk about what—."

She was quickly interrupted by Setsuna who jumped down her throat much quicker than Konoka expected her to. "The golem, the Dark Mage, the void, all of it. Your doing?" The charcoal-haired girl was giving Evangeline an icy, accusatory stare. Setsuna's intensity frightened Konoka, who placed a hand on her arm, hoping the contact would soften her demeanor. A little surprisingly, Setsuna covered Konoka's hand with her own, but the cold glare didn't change. Her worry for her friend increased as Evangeline answered.

"Yes. And no. The golem is mine. I crafted several monsters to tend to the environment in my stead, all of them harmless. The rest? They were put there against my will, out of necessity. Negi needs extensive training, and a perfect analog for the final fight against Nag—the Mage of the Beginning. It is absolutely crucial. If Negi fails to defeat the evil mage that took control of his father, everything we have accomplished up to this point is meaningless. The magical world will surely collapse. If it does, every object, every person, every _speck_ of matter in it wastes away on the surface of Mars. The inhabitants would be helpless in the face of their own demise. It would be a fate worse than being sent to the Eternal Garden of Cosmo Entelecheia." Konoka couldn't tell if Evangeline was concerned for the people of the magical world or not. Her words seemed caring, but the insensitive look on her face belied her true emotions. She was at one time the most wanted mage in the world, but Konoka had thought her time with the class of 3-A had changed her. _Maybe not…_she thought.

"However," Evangeline continued, sipping her tea delicately, "how the things got into my resort is not your concern. What is your concern is your interaction with them just now. I can sense something grievous hanging over you both. Tell me, what happened to you?" Evangeline set her teacup down on the matching saucer and stirred the green liquid absently with her spoon, clearly more interested in them than the tea.

Konoka looked at Setsuna who glanced back at her. They both spoke up at once, tripping over each other's words. With an exasperated noise Evangeline put up a hand. "One at a time. Konoka, you go first."

The chocolate-haired girl's mind was spinning, trying to remember all that had happened in the past few hours. She was having a hard time figuring out where to start. Her voice was shaky as she began.

"I… I still don't remember everything, but I'll start where I remember." Evangeline gave her a slight nod of the head. "Secchan and I were running through the jungle and we came to the beach, and then when I was in the water… Something grabbed me, I couldn't see it very well. But it was hurting Secchan, and it wouldn't let me go. Then… then he threatened us and… and I felt a sharp pain in my chest." Setsuna's hand was still over hers and when she got to that part of the story, she gripped Konoka's hand hard. She looked at her protector and felt fresh tears rolling slowly down her cheeks. "I was so scared Secchan! I screamed, and then everything went black." Blinking back her tears Konoka watched her knight mover her hand up to wipe them away. She didn't say anything, but her eyes spoke of sadness and comfort.

Evangeline spoke in unusually reverent tones. "What happened next Konoka?"

"I… I'm not sure. I don't really remember." And that was the simple truth, she really didn't remember. There was just vague senses of memories left from what happened next. "There was darkness. I didn't feel anything. I—I don't think I was awake, but I wasn't dead… Oh, I'm not making any sense…" She shook her head in frustration, angry with herself for failing to understand her own memories. _But they seem so alien, how am I supposed to explain it to them?_ She began to feel more tears welling in her eyes.

Just then, Evangeline spoke up, her voice cold and pointed, "Setsuna, did you experience something similar?"

With the attention diverted from her, Konoka dried her eyes with the back of her hand, then looked at Setsuna, who since her outbreak had said nothing. The warrior's eyes were sharply staring at the table, but Konoka could sense she was looking beyond it. When she did speak, her voice was unwavering, steady and cold to match Evangeline's.

"Yes. I died in your resort just like Konoka-ojousama. Died, then awoke in a place beyond description. A place where nothing was everything. There were images, countless memories of my own life flashing before me, taunting me with their clarity. Lifetimes spent cycling through my life flashing before my eyes. Then at once they were gone and I felt nothing but my own body. Another eternity spent in total darkness." Konoka's eyes widened as she heard her friend describe her experience. _Oh Secchan, it sounds so terrible…_

Setsuna had begun to shake in her seat. Suddenly her eyes left the table and fixated on Evangeline. "I died over and over, but still my body came back. I grieved again and again for Konoka, and still it did not help. Each death brought only a sliver of relief, then I was brought back to life in that empty hell of a place." Setsuna stood abruptly and slammed her palm on the table, making Konoka jump and let out a small gasp. Her eyes were boring holes into Evangeline. "What happened to me?! Why am I alive?! I want the truth Evangeline! Tell me. Now!" As she finished her shouting, Konoka could see that Setsuna was breathing heavily, still trembling with rage. Her heart longed to embrace her friend, to comfort her, and tell her that she would be okay. She moved to put a hand on Setsuna, but Evangeline's voice stopped her.

"You want to know what happened to you? Very well, but knowing will not change what has already happened. And if I tell you, there is no stopping the chain of events that are to follow. You must be ready to accept the truth and commit yourself to it." This time Evangeline stood, as graceful and powerful as ever. "Are you ready to accept this fate? Or would you rather live on in blissful ignorance? For there is no going back. This is the point of no return!"

She extended a palm in a pointing motion to Setsuna. "Now, what it your answer?" A heavy silence permeated the room. The two girls shouting at each other had Konoka quivering in confusion. Eva's words were spinning in her head, none of them making sense. She turned her head to look at Setsuna. Her gaze was determined, and she spoke without fear.

"There was never any going back."

At that Evangeline smiled wickedly. "Exactly the answer I was looking for. I'll tell you, but not here. Come, we must go." She left the room without as much as a glance backwards.

Konoka looked to Setsuna who was slightly wide-eyed, staring at the door Evangeline had left through. She recovered quickly. "Come on, we'd better go with her." Then her expression softened as she extended her hand towards Konoka. "It wouldn't be wise to anger the Dark Evangel, right Kono-chan?" The warmth in Setsuna's expressions had returned, and that made Konoka happy enough to jump out of her seat. She almost did as she grabbed the girl's hand. Together they walked out of the room and saw Evangeline at the end of the hall, entering the resort room again. Konoka was a little confused, but Setsuna didn't miss a beat, following as if it wasn't strange that they were headed back to the resort. _I don't get what's going on, but if Secchan does, then I'll trust her._

The two girls entered the room to the resort and found Evangeline with one hand on the sphere containing the original tower. A white light was encircling her feet. Her free hand was extended to the two girls, a sly grin gracing her face. "You need to hold my hand, unless you want to end up naked again."

Konoka could see Setsuna's blush out of the corner of her eye. The swordswoman gave a loud '_tsk_' then grabbed hold of the vampire's hand hard. Evangeline sneered a little, but the smile never left her face. "Now, let's go!"

White light appeared underneath Konoka and Setsuna's feet and a moment later they were gone.

* * *

Once they had appeared on the stone platform of the resort Setsuna let go of Evangeline's hand, but kept hold of Konoka's. She wasn't about to let something get Konoka this time. _I have to be extra alert, even if Evangeline is here._

As if the small vampiress could read her mind she said, "Don't worry Setsuna. This sphere is always kept free of vermin. Nothing can harm your precious _ojousama_ here." She cocked her head slightly. "Well, except me that is." Setsuna just raised an eyebrow at the girl, calling Evangeline's bluff. Evangeline sniffed and turned to walk down the long bridge to the main tower. "You're no fun at all Setsuna."

The two girls followed Evangeline hand in hand in relative silence. When they reached the covered area that Setsuna remembered Negi taking her and Konoka—as well as a bunch of the other girls in 3A—to before the magical world trip, Evangeline reclined in a padded chair that rather resembled a throne, motioning the two girls to join her on less impressive seats facing hers. Konoka flopped down, obviously enjoying the padding in her overenthusiastic way. Setsuna seated herself slowly but didn't recline. She needed to be alert, regardless of what Evangeline said.

"Nice weather today, no?" Evangeline was staring off into the distance, with one hand raised longingly towards the sky. Setsuna gave no response. Konoka didn't make a sound either. Evangeline let her arm fall with a sigh and placed her hands on the arms of the throne-like chair. She didn't bother to sit up though, Setsuna noticed. As she spoke, her tone changed from listless to serious instantaneously.

"I won't stall any longer. You want the truth? Here it is. Both of you died in the beach resort, that is true. As I said before, even though the _real_ Mage of the Beginning is somewhere else, Negi had me construct a pseudo-homolog that would be like the real thing. In order to defeat the real Mage of the Beginning to free Nagi, Negi must train against what he will face when that time comes. That means, the Mage of the Beginning you faced had all the power the real one has—assuming of course that his power is actually a corrupted version of Nagi's own power... The details aren't important. What is important is what happened after you died." Evangeline shifted in her seat to find a more comfortable position, then continued.

"The blackness, the emptiness, the cold space you both inhabited for a time… it has a name. A name that you both know." At this Evangeline leaned forward, eyes narrowing on Setsuna. "Can you guess it Setsuna? No? The void you both were in was nothing other than Cosmo Entelecheia itself."

Setsuna heard Konoka gasp. She could hardly believe it herself. _That can't be right…_ _Cosmo Entelecheia is supposed to be a wonderful garden of tranquility and peace, isn't it?_ A smirk played across Evangeline's face.

"I know what you're thinking Setsuna. And you're right, Cosmo Entelecheia shouldn't have been like that. Usually it manifests itself as an Eden of perfection where the dearly departed live on through the ages. However, it can change, as it did with you two."

At this Konoka broke out stammering, the confusion evident on her face. "Eva-chan? I don't really get it. Manifests itself? Changing? Isn't Cosmo Entelecheia just a place created by Fate and the Mage of the Beginning?" Setsuna was surprised at how quick Konoka was to question what she was told. Her usual innocent acquiescence had been diminished somehow. Setsuna looked back at Evangeline.

"Ah, very astute observation Konoka. Yes, the realm was created by the Mage of the Beginning with the Great Grand Master Key. But just because he created it, does not mean that he can control it. The simple truth is that Cosmo Entelecheia is alive! Alive through the power of the Great Grand Master Key. From the moment of its creation, it has molded and changed, unaffected by anything any mage does. I doubt even the Great Grand Master Key—the source of its initial magical power—could control it now. Here's the key though, Cosmo Entelecheia changes according to the needs of the individual entering it at the time of their death. For some, the greatest need is indeed a tranquil, endless existence of peace. For others, it is a training ground, or a penitentiary, or even… an empty, dream-filled void." At this, Evangeline's eyes rested on Setsuna's face with a look of supreme self-satisfaction, as if she knew exactly what Setsuna had gone through in Cosmo Entelecheia. _Well, she's certainly not wrong with that guess._ Simply knowing what the void was wasn't enough for Setsuna however.

"But why Evangeline? Why send us to the void? Why make me live through those memories over and over again? Why did I die over and over again? What purpose could that possibly serve?" Her tone most likely came off over-agitated but she needed answers. Evangeline looked past her, seeing something beyond either of the two girls facing her. When she spoke, her voice sounded far off.

"Distilling. That's what the process is called. Those who go to the void are in need of soul purification. Not in the way that you might think. It is not a purification to erase wickedness, but rather to concentrate the emotions most important to the person upon his death. Cosmo Entelecheia knows when a soul comes to it in need of distilling and works on it until the very essence of who that person is is forever altered. The soul and mind become new, re-invigorated, and forever changed. Then the soul is released back into the body where it is given another chance at life. That is the true power of Cosmo Entelecheia, and _that_ is what truly happened to you both."

Setsuna was stunned. Her throat felt dry and she was having a hard time breathing. Thoughts were twisting and whirling in her head. _So we did die? And our souls were distilled? And then brought back to life? Is that even possible? What does it all mean?_ Evangeline spoke up again.

"I'll tell you one more thing. I cannot tell you what was distilled, only that it has been. You both must figure that out for yourselves. Are you ready for that challenge? To find out the new you?" Evangeline had raised an eyebrow in question.

Setsuna responded quickly. "Like we have a choice." Her thoughts were consumed with trying to find the answers to her questions buried in what Evangeline had said. While she was thinking, she heard Konoka speak up.

"Eva-chan, can I ask you something?" Evangeline nodded slightly for her to continue. "How… how do you know all of this?"

Setsuna looked at Konoka. She had never thought to ask that. Evangeline sure seemed to know a lot about it. The girl in question stood from her chair and walked to the balcony of the tower overlooking the water. As she leaned against the railing a soft breeze stirred and blew her blonde hair about beautifully. After a long moment she turned her head to look at them over her shoulder.

"Because I was distilled."

* * *

Author's Note: And that ladies and gentlemen, is chapter 11! I hope you liked it! I'm sorry to those of you who were bored by this chapter. I felt like I needed to explain what had been going on. If you're still confused, there is a little more explanation coming in the next chapter, don't worry. However, there will be more of a return to the romantic theme in not too long, so for those of you who only read Barriers for Setsuna's constant blushing: please stay tuned.

Thank you for your continued support! As always, please contact me through review or PM if you're interested in talking. I make an effort to respond to all of my mail, so if you take the time to talk to me, I'll return the favor! Thank you as always, and in the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12.

"What did you say?" Setsuna couldn't believe what she had heard.

"I said, I was distilled." Evangeline sighed deeply and turned around to face them, leaning back against the balcony railing. "Back when I was still the Dark Evangel—before Nagi trapped me in this cursed body—I was truly evil. So evil, in fact, that I would have killed you both the first day I met you, had you looked at me funny. There was nowhere I could not go; nothing I could not do. The world was my plaything, the inhabitants my puppets, dancing for my glory while I pulled the strings. This world _and_ Mundus Magicus were held slave to my whim. Everyone knew my name, and none dared speak it. That was the legacy of the Dark Evangel. At least, until that brat's father showed up."

Setsuna felt uneasy. She always knew that Evangeline was evil—or at least she called herself evil—but this… It was almost unbelievable! _If this is really true, then maybe she wasn't kidding about what she said on the bridge… I shouldn't let her get close to Konoka anymore._ Setsuna got up from her chair in haste and shielded Konoka with her body, setting herself for battle. Evangeline only smirked.

"Don't bother Setsuna. If I had wanted to kill her—or you for that matter—I would have done it by now. Now sit back down, you foolish girl." Setsuna took a moment to think before realizing that Evangeline was right. _A good thing too. I'm not sure I would have been able to stop her if she tried._ Embarrassed by her foolishness, she bowed to the vampiress.

"I'm sorry Evangeline-san, please continue," she said as she returned to her seat. Waiving off the apology, Evangeline continued.

"Nagi Springfield was an interesting man. I knew him well." _Maybe too well_, she thought to herself. "Early on we were something between enemies and friends. I would commit crimes and he would try and stop me. His power almost rivaled mine, but I always found a way to win against him. Until he decided that he wanted to change who I was, instead of just defeating me. He wanted to make me a better person. He spent years trying, and failing. He was delusional—someone born of darkness can never be comfortable in the light—but he never gave up trying. Years passed, and finally I gave him an ultimatum: stop pursuing me and trying to change me, or fight and die." _Like I could ever kill that man_, Evangeline thought to herself_. Still, I don't need to be too honest with them_.

Konoka was almost on the edge of her seat. "What'd he say Eva-chan?"

"Nothing. He met me face to face in battle. Twelve days we fought. Our battle covered countless kilometers of ground, leaving nothing but glorious destruction in our wake. Blow for blow we matched each other's strength. Each of us gave it our all, but we were locked in a stalemate. On the thirteenth day he had retreated to some remote beach on the Elysium peninsula of Mundus Magicus. When I chased him there, he had laid a trap for me. I was careless and fell right into his grasp. He had captured me there in the sand, but instead of harming me, he just spoke to me. He said…" Evangeline struggled to divulge the words he had said. Her past certainly didn't come back friendly. "He said 'why don't you try to live in the light for a change.' Then he chanted two incantations back to back. The first was the _Infernus Scholasticus_, which changed me into the form you see now and locked me to Mahora Academy. The second, a spell never used before or since. _Anima_ _Confletur_—which means soul refining, or literally, "may the soul be refined." As soon as he finished the incantation, a dark shadow passed over his face and he spoke a few last words before killing me." Evangeline's features turned icy cold. "Those words have never left me. 'May the light distill you.' Then everything went black and I had an experience very similar to yours, Setsuna. The memories, the darkness, the cycles of dying. All of it. When I finally did wake up, I was already at Mahora. Nagi was dead, and everything that I had known was gone." By the end of the story Evangeline was staring off into the distance beyond the two girls.

Setsuna was trying to take it all in. She knew Nagi was powerful, everything Negi and the others had said always painted him the ultimate hero—the knight in shining armor. But to have trapped Evangeline? She had grossly underestimated his power. Still, she was somewhat relieved that Konoka and she weren't the only ones _distilled_, but she wasn't sure how much of a comfort that was, considering Evangeline was still the way she was even _after_ the fact.

Apparently, Konoka was wondering the same thing too. "But Eva-chan, you don't seem that much different… Did it actually change you?"

At this, Evangeline scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. Nagi tried using _Anima Conflans_ as a spell, without the power of the Great Grand Master Key, to create the link between Mundus Magicus and Cosmo Entelecheia. That meant the power of the distilling process was far weaker than what you two went through. It barely touched me. It certainly didn't change me." For some reason, Setsuna was disinclined to believe that. Evangeline _was_ evil, no doubt about it, but not like what she described earlier.

Evangeline continued. "Unlike me, the both of you died here in the resort. Being a magical construct, the real location of this resort lies somewhere between the real world and Cosmo Entelecheia. That means that when you two died and your souls left your bodies, the souls could be easily transported to Cosmo Entelecheia. And once Cosmo Entelecheia had finished with you both, it could transport your souls, as well as your healed bodies, back to the real world."

Setsuna was having an increasingly hard time understanding. "Evangeline, you said our souls were transported… Transported by whom exactly?"

The swordswoman received little more than flat stare. "I don't know. It is possible that the very fabric of Cosmo Entelecheia can stretch into other worlds and pull souls into it. It may even be able to move bodies around between worlds. There is more mystery in that place than anyone has dared to investigate. What I do know is that those who are distilled are done so purposefully." Evangeline walked back down to her throne-seat, sitting deliberately. "Now that we have discussed that, do you have any more questions girls?"

Setsuna looked at Konoka who was concentrating rather intently on the floor. There were, in fact, some things she was still confused about. "So what about the cavern Konoka and I fell into? Why was that there? And why was it all backwards?"

Evangeline gave Setsuna a curious look before her eyes brightened in recollection. "Ah! You mean the one under the Rock Guardian? I made that a long time ago. By accident really. When I was still toying with the details of the resort's construction, I tried to create an inverted space. A cavern where gravity pulled _up_, not down. The experiment was successful, but once I had created it, I couldn't deconstruct it for fear of the entire space collapsing. So I left it. I take it you two found the slide I created to get out of that cavern?" She paused for a second allowing for a nod from both girls. "That's one of the connections between the two fields of gravity, the other one being the hole beneath the pool in the middle of the island." The explanation satisfied Setsuna who leaned back in her chair, processing all that she had heard. _There's no doubt about it, Evangeline is one interesting person._

Konoka still seemed worried over something. "So why were our clothes gone?" Setsuna had nearly forgotten about that. In comparison to other events it seemed trivial, but at the time it sure wasn't. She was likewise interested to hear Evangeline's explanation. She was even more curious when she noticed Evangeline squirming in her seat, a flush suffusing her cheeks. Hesitantly she sputtered out an answer.

"That's—well… It's none of your concern. I had my reasons for that change, and those reasons are personal. I apologize that you lost your clothes, but that's all I'm saying about it!" The small blonde had put her foot down, literally as well as figuratively, and while Setsuna knew not to toy with the evil vampiress, Konoka either did not, or just didn't care.

To anyone other than Setsuna, Konoka's demeanor would suggest innocent curiosity, but to her it spoke of playful manipulation. "So, if you set it up that way, and the one who comes here most often now is Negi…" She didn't have to complete her thought before Evangeline burst out of her chair. Crystals of ice materialized from thin air around her feet as she landed on the now frozen stone floor. Her hands were glowing with a dark blue magical aura. The evil look was back in her eye.

"What did you say?!"

The demand elicited a high pitched "KYA!" from Konoka who bounded up off her chair and began running around the open seating area, laughing and screaming. Evangeline was close on her tail, shouting "I'll get you for that!" and sending small blasts of snow in her direction, never coming too close to hitting her. As Setsuna merely watched the two girls play, she couldn't help but giggle. _Who'd have thought those two would get along so well?_

* * *

Author's Note: And viola! Chapter 12. This is basically a wrap up of the explanation and more groundwork for the upcoming chapters/arcs. Hopefully you weren't too bored with all the talking. i just realized the two main characters haven't kissed in a while... Maybe I should work on that! Haha.

Also, I'd love to talk to you, the readers, through either reviews or PMing. But if you're going to post a review as a guest you should definitely think about making an account! They're free and it takes very little time. That way, I can talk with you! (Yes, I'm talking to you Yuki...).

Anyway, thanks for your continued support. In the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13.

There was a soft breeze and a pleasant scent on the path: the smell of pine on the stirring wind. It reminded Setsuna of her time training in the mountains above Kyoto, and all those hours strengthening and meditating in the silent forest. It was a pleasant memory. She sighed as she roused herself out of her daydream.

After Evangeline had told them everything they wanted to know, the three left the resort. Normally that would have been impossible before a full day had passed inside the magical glass sphere, but Evangeline had concocted a special potion to cut the length of one's stay for just such an occasion, where the resort was needed for only a short time. At the front door of the cottage the two girls had thanked the vampiress for her hospitality, and after donning their shoes and socks, started back towards the dormitories.

The path Setsuna and Konoka now took to get back to their rooms led them through stands of cherry trees. Daytime in the spring was the best time for cherry trees and their annual blossoms, but autumn nights weren't a bad time to admire them either. There was certainly enough time for appreciating the scenery, since neither girl felt much like talking. That didn't bother Setsuna though. The significance of what had happened was just starting to sink in, and she felt like she needed time to sort things out.

She walked to Konoka's right, paying only partial attention to the brick footpath in front of her. Despite the pain it caused her, she played back the events after arriving in the resort. She still couldn't figure out why it had happened to her, or even what it was that had changed. Evangeline's words rung loudly in her head, "until the very essence of who that person is, is forever altered." _Altered? How? I don't feel any different… _ Scowling, she reached up and rubbed at her temples in pain. _Except for this headache that won't seem to go away._

"Oh, Secchan! Are you okay? Does your head hurt?" Konoka's voice was full of worry. Setsuna looked at her from under the hand on her brow. The chocolate-haired girl had one hand covering her mouth in a worried expression and the other hand raised to offer assistance. She looked sweet, the concern in her eyes somehow making them sparkle even more than usual.

"It's okay Kono-chan, it's nothing to worry about. Just a slight headache. It'll be gone soon enough." She tried to assuage the girl's concern, but to no avail.

"Oh no! Come here and I can heal you! Your headache will be gone in no time!" The chocolate-haired youth set herself and extended her hands to her sides. "ADEAT!" With a puff of smoke Konoka's outfit changed from her school uniform to a traditional-style onmyoji uniform. Two fans appeared in her outstretched hands. _Flabellum Euri _and _Flabellum Australe_: the fans of the Northern and Southern winds. They were as beautiful as ever. Each reflected and amplified the moonlight, _Euri_ glowing a beautiful violet, _Australe_ a fierce yellow. Every time Konoka brought out her fans, Setsuna was struck by the inherent beauty of her artifact. _Surely their beauty reflects the beauty in her soul. It's a far cry from my Sica Shishikushiro or even Takemikazuchi._

Konoka closed the distance between them and raised _Australe_ to Setsuna's head, placing the open blade of the fan on her forehead. She closed her eyes and Setsuna saw a white magical aura appear around her, making her hair float with the magical energy. Setsuna couldn't take her eyes off the chocolate-haired healer while she incanted the healing spell. "O great wind of the South, breathe thy healing power upon my patient and render her free of malady. _Morbis dissipo!_"

As soon as the spell's keywords left Konoka's lips, a bright yellow light shone on Setsuna's forehead. She could feel a tingling sensation where the fan blade was touching her skin. Magic that was simultaneously warm and cool flowed into her. Instantly her headache vanished. In its place a transcendent peace filled her mind. Much to Setsuna's disappointment, the feeling ended as Konoka lowered her fan.

"How do you feel now Secchan? All better?" Setsuna knew the girl knew full well that her healing never failed. She decided to indulge her anyway.

"Yes, all better Kono-chan." Setsuna gave the young healer a wink and a quick kiss on the cheek. "Now, we should probably hurry back to our rooms before we both catch colds." Konoka nodded, smiling brightly. With a quick "Abeat," she stowed her artifact and grabbed Setsuna's hand. The two ran the remaining distance to the middle school dormitory hand in hand.

* * *

They arrived at Setsuna's room first, and after a quick goodbye and a warm embrace, Setsuna opened the door to head to bed. She removed her shoes and set them by the door, then headed to her bunk. She could see the outline of her roommate, Nagase Kaede, under the covers of the upper bunk. _I better take care not to wake her_, Setsuna thought.

She wearily doffed her school uniform, remembering to put on new panties in addition to her pajamas. Mentally and emotionally exhausted from the long day, she flopped onto her bunk. Much to her surprise and discomfort, she landed on something hard.

"AH! OUCH…!"

The object had hit her square in the back, just above the butt. She reached behind her and felt around for the offending object. As her hand found it, she became immediately confused. _What? A sword? But I always put…_ Her eyes travelled over to Yunagi, resting on its stand at the head of her bed. In disbelief she pulled the new sword out from behind her. When she saw it she did a double take. It looked for all the world like Yunagi, but the hilt was white as snow. Apprehensively, she pulled the blade from its sheath. Pure black steel shimmered in the moonlight streaming through the window. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt a cold sweat break on her forehead. Her voice was hoarse as she spoke. "Impossible! It has to be!"

"What's all the racket about? And what's impossible?" Setsuna's commotion had apparently awoken Kaede, who was hanging off her bunk to look at her upside down.

"Ah, Kaede-san, where did this sword come from?" Setsuna asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

Kaede furrowed her brow in confusion. "You mean it's not yours, Setsuna-dono? When I came home this evening it was standing on the windowsill, leaning against the window. I figured you had bought it and I didn't want it falling out the window, so I put it on your bunk. You're telling me it's not yours?"

"No. And I'm getting a bad feeling about it." Setsuna eyed the sheathed blade warily. Something felt off about the sword. In the soft moonlight she could barely make out scrawling black print on the white hilt. Squinting, she read the inscription aloud.

"_Mitis Sicarius."_

For a minute she thought she heard whispers inside her head, but decided she was just imagining things. The inscription must be Latin, but she didn't know what it meant. She looked at Kaede, who was just as confused. _Not really a surprise from the Baka Blue Ranger. Hopefully Negi will be around school tomorrow, he will know what it means._

She set the sword next to Yunagi and quickly placed a mid-level demonic seal on the sword—just in case. "There. That should be sufficient until I can figure out where it came from." Setsuna looked to Kaede once more, who had crawled back upright in her bed. The ninja girl had a grave look on her face, her squinty fox-eyes enhancing the look of concern.

"I will be on guard tonight Setsuna-dono. Something strange is occurring." With that she gave Setsuna a slight nod of the head as a goodnight and laid back down on her bed.

Setsuna agreed with her that something was strange, but she didn't know what. After a moment of silent thought she figured she should head to bed as well. _No use in worrying too much now. I'll deal with it in the morning._ She reclined, this time without incident, and soon fell into a light, troubled sleep. The whispering returned, and it wasn't her imagination this time.

* * *

Rousing from a night of half-sleep, Setsuna could feel a splitting pain in her head. The whispering had invaded her dreams, getting steadily louder throughout the early hours of the morning. They, mixed with the recurrence of her headache, made for little restful sleep. It didn't help that Kaede woke extremely early and shuffled around the room some before taking off. She didn't make much noise, but the little she did only compounded Setsuna's restlessness.

Before long, morning came and Setsuna knew she had to start getting up. She ate a small breakfast and brushed her teeth. Clothes and hair were next. While she never made much of an effort to look pretty, there were still things to do. When she finished getting ready she looked at the clock. It read 7:30; a whole hour before she needed to be in class. Obviously she had miscalculated how early it was. With her normal morning ritual complete, and time to spare, she headed over to grab Yunagi, hoping to get in some practice before class.

But Yunagi wasn't on its stand. In its place stood the foreign, white handled blade. Yunagi was nowhere to be found. Uneasily, she searched the room for her sword and found it under her bed, tossed back against the wall. Dumbstruck, she thought of the only explanation that could make sense. _It must have been Kaede playing a trick on me_._ That must have been what she was doing up so early._ Setsuna chuckled to herself for being foolish enough to think that the swords had moved by themselves. She reached under the bed and grabbed hold of Yunagi. Straightening, she slung the string attached to the sheath around her body so the hilt jutted up behind her left shoulder. _Ah, now this feels right_, she thought.

She crossed the small dorm room and slipped into her shoes. With one last glance at the strange new blade, she left the room and headed for Tatsumiya shrine.

* * *

Setsuna arrived at the expansive grounds of the shrine more than a little irritated. Her head still hurt, and the strange whispering she had been hearing that night started up again less than halfway to the shrine and hadn't let up. She still couldn't make out what the voice was saying, but she could tell it was a man's voice. It was airy, but carried a gravity that was unmistakable. As she walked, she thought she heard the voice say "_Pull, girl_" but she figured it was only her imagination putting words to the mystery.

As she stepped through the gates of Tatsumiya shrine, a wave of relief came over her as the voice quieted. The pain in her head also subsided. Setsuna chalked it up to the sacred quality of the ground she had entered. Relieved that she would at least get a few minutes of relief, she headed down the covered walkway to the deck area in the middle of the shrine.

It was empty at the shrine this early in the morning, which suited Setsuna quite nicely. She didn't like people watching her practice. _Well, except for Konoka that is_. She blushed slightly and laughed to herself. She found her mood was significantly improved by the time she walked out onto the large deck.

Being on the deck always brought back memories of the tournament during the festival that Negi, Asuna, and she had taken part in. That was the first time she really got to see Asuna's power first hand. Negi's as well. _Those memories feel so far away now, after everything that's happened_, she thought. _Still it's nice to reminisce._ Then a voice broke her out of her reverie.

"It's not like you to look off into the sky this early in the morning Setsuna." Setsuna spun around to find a familiar face.

As guardian of the family shrine, Tatsumiya Mana was dressed in a priestess's robe befitting her duties. She held a serene grace about her that somehow masked a terrifying battle spirit. There was some measure of gentleness to her, but Setsuna always assumed Mana was carved out of stone at birth.

"Oh it's you Mana. Good morning." Setsuna bowed a greeting which the tall, dark skinned girl returned.

With a small smile Mana asked, "You here to work out a few kinks? You look like you could use another night's sleep." Much to Setsuna's chagrin, Mana never missed things like that. As a sniper she had a sharp eye, and a quick intuition. Swinging her shoulder to loosen it she replied.

"Something like that. I brought Yunagi along to practice my form on the _ken_ techniques." She nodded over her shoulder to her sword. Mana's glassy look never faltered, but Setsuna could tell the sniper was confused.

"Did you feel like a change of pace?"

Now it was Setsuna who was confused. She raised an eyebrow at her dark skinned friend. "No… You know I always come here to train…" Setsuna didn't know how Mana could forget that.

"That's not what I mean. I find it rather odd that after all this time you decide to change the wrapping."

Now Setsuna had no idea what Mana was talking about. She was beginning to feel concerned for her friend. "Wrapping? Mana, do you feel alright? I think you might need to lie down…"

Confusion turned to mild frustration on the priestess's face. "What? I think _you're_ the one that's not right. Why won't you answer my question?"

"What?" Setsuna replied, also getting tense. "What are you taking about?"

"Your sword, dummy! The hilt's white!"

Setsuna froze where she stood. The words rang through her head a second time. _The hilt's white_… That could only mean one thing. Slowly, she reached over her shoulder with her right hand. The moment she grasped the hilt she heard the voice in her head shout.

"_Pull, girl! Pull me out!"_

She drew the sword from its sheath. Instantly she could tell it wasn't Yunagi she held in her hand. Her heart froze as the black blade of _Mitis Sicarius_ glinted in the morning sun. "No… It can't be…" she whispered.

"Setsuna, are you feeling alright?" Mana chimed in with a hint of worry in her strong voice.

Thoughts were spinning in Setsuna's mind. She _knew_ she had put Yunagi on her back this morning. She had _seen_ the black blade on the sword stand as she left. But now it was here, where Yunagi was supposed to be. Confusion and worry turned to anger and horror as the blade fell from her hand. It clanked against the hardwood of the deck harmlessly.

Setsuna just looked at the blade until she realized her headache had returned in full force. The pain in her head was so intense, it brought her to one knee. She wondered if something had injured her. She moved a hand to her head to massage her temples, hoping that would alleviate the pain. It helped, but only slightly.

"_Foolish girl. Refusing the medicine that heals._"

Setsuna could now hear the voice clearly. Amazed and terrified she whispered. "The sword?"

"_Yes. The sword. Are you surprised?_" the voice asked. Setsuna only stared, awestruck and frightened. "_Now, now, girl. That pain in your head is pretty bad, is it not? I can fix that, if you pick me up._" Setsuna didn't move. She didn't know what was going on. Nothing in the Shinmeiryuu teachings said that weapons could talk. Each weapon did have a sort of spirit, or individual character imbued in the steel, but certainly not a _real_ spirit. "_Yes, it is rather odd isn't it? Yet here I am. Oh, and before you scream: yes, I can hear your thoughts, just as you hear mine._"

All of the blood drained from Setsuna's face. Things had gone from bad to worse. Not only was this abomination in her mind, it had the ability to read her thoughts. "_Oh an _abomination_ am I? Such a foolish girl. Just pick me up before _I_ get a headache._" For a moment, Setsuna wondered how a sword could have a headache. Then, shaking herself to make sure this was real, she thought the situation through.

_What's going on? I don't understand this. I'm sure I picked Yunagi up this morning, but… What am I supposed to do with it now? If it can move—and talk—then how am I supposed to get rid of it._ As she thought that, she paused to see if there would be any response from the voice. There was none._ Well… I have to deal with it at some point. I very well can't leave it on the deck._ She leaned down and grasped the sword hilt with her right hand. Instantly, everything went dark.

* * *

Author's Note: Chapter 13 end! Thanks for being patient with this chapter. I'm done with finals at university! Woohoo! So I should be better about posting chapters now. Hope you had fun reading this chapter! Chapter 14 is now up! Thanks for reading, and in the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14.

Setsuna heard mumbling. It sounded far off. She didn't really care though. She was dreaming of Konoka. The two of them had found their way to some sort of old building named Hinata Inn. It was apparently an all girl's dormitory, but it had a natural hot springs that was open to the public and they were relaxing there. They were having so much fun, Setsuna never wanted it to end. She was watching Konoka play with a strange bronze statue that spouted water. She watched as the water from the statue cascaded down her body, making her perfect skin glisten in the soft moonlight. There was no match for her beauty.

Suddenly Konoka saw her and ran over. She grabbed ahold of Setsuna's hand and said, "Setsuna-san, wake up." The world around them shifted in the way dreams do right before waking.

"But I'm already awake Kono-chan."

Suddenly Konoka's voice didn't sound like her own. It sounded smaller, squeakier. "Wake up, Setsuna-san. Wake up!"

Pieces of the world around them started to fall apart, the sky breaking like shards of glass on the ground. Setsuna tried to protect Konoka from the falling pieces, but before she could, she saw one headed straight at herself. She was helpless to stop it as she watched it approach. It came hurtling towards her, aimed straight at her eye. Closer, closer.

The shard of glass impacted.

And Setsuna jumped awake in her bed. Her heart was beating fast, and she was covered in a cold sweat. She looked around to see that she was in the nurse's room at Mahora. She could tell by the plaster-white walls and the coarse, starched linen of the cot she was on.

"Thank goodness you're awake Setsuna-san!" She now realized why Konoka had been talking and sounding funny in her dream. Negi Springfield was sitting at her bedside, dressed in his favorite green suit. He gave her one of his big, ridiculous smiles—the kind of smile only untainted youth have. She noticed he was holding a damp towel in his hand.

"Negi-sensei, were you taking care of me?" she asked.

He seemed flustered, waving his hands around in a comical way. "Ah. No— I mean yes! But it's no problem!" He calmed down and explained. "I was eating breakfast with Asuna when I got a call from Tatsumiya-san. She said you had collapsed and she brought you here to the infirmary. She said she had to go to class, and asked if I'd look after you. Apparently she didn't want to get in trouble with Fate-san."

Setsuna looked at Negi, with his reading spectacles and his messy hair. He really was quite a sight. A lot of the girls in 3-A had fallen for him, but Setsuna never really understood it. He looked so young… But she knew he was strong beyond his years. "So I collapsed?"

"Apparently so. She didn't say much else, except that you were acting really weird just before you lost consciousness."

That triggered her memory like lightning striking a flagpole. "Of course! The sword, where is it?"

Negi just blinked at her for a moment before what she was asking for clicked in his mind. "Ah! You mean this?" He reached behind his chair and grabbed the white handled blade. Setting it on his lap he said, "Tatsumiya-san mentioned you had your sword on you."

Setsuna set him with a level stare. "That's not my sword."

Now Negi looked extremely confused. "Come again?"

She extended a pointed finger at the blade. "I said, that _thing_ is not my sword." The child teacher looked extremely perplexed. With a small sigh she asked, "Do you remember my sword's name Negi-sensei?"

He became flustered again and Setsuna could see the gears turn in his head as he wracked is brain for the answer. He had many things to remember for a ten year old; she didn't really expect him to remember. "Well—ah… Something like Yujiro? Yotari? …Yukata? No… That's a kimono…" He was concentrating to the point of almost exploding.

"It's Yunagi." She paused for a moment to let him settle again—he was so excitable. "On the hilt of that blade you're holding there is an inscription. Read it."

Negi looked down at the sword and brought the hilt up to read it. "_Mitis Sicarius._ Then this really isn't your sword." She had hoped he would give a translation without asking, but she was in no such luck.

"What does it mean Sensei? The Latin?"

Negi thought for a moment. He knew a lot of things, but recalling obscure vocabulary from a dead language to mind took time. "What does that mean…? Ah yes: _Mitis Sicarius_ translates to Gentle Assassin."

Setsuna's heart dropped to her stomach. She instantly felt rather sick, and her pulse skipped a beat. Her eyes glossed over as she remembered something from deep in her past. Quietly she whispered to herself. "Gentle Assassin? Could it be? _The one who kills with a soft blow_…"

Her whispering was so soft Negi barely heard it. "What was that, Setsuna-san?"

His voice brought her back to reality. "Oh, it's part of a saying—or rather, a prophecy—of the Shinmeiryuu teachings. _We wait for the one who kills with a soft blow, for he shall bring about an end to fighting_. It's one of the only prophecies the Shinmeiryuu tradition has, and it is without a doubt the most anticipated." She hadn't thought about the prophecy in ages, certainly not since Negi's arrival.

For his part, Negi was confused. "An end to fighting? Isn't that what the Shinmeiryuu do though? Fight, for a living?"

Setsuna smirked. She didn't expect him to understand. "It might seem that way, but really, our abilities to fight and destroy evil is just a benefit of our sword training, not the end goal." She could see he still didn't get it, so she continued to explain. "The reason behind our long hours of practice and training isn't to slay evil spirits. In the end, it is a tool to bring our bodies closer to our true self, our spirit. The oneness gained by a lifetime of training with the sword allows for a transcendence of the very being of a person, in theory. Our true goal is to attain the ultimate nirvana, if you will."

Negi started to piece things together as he held up the sword. "And you think this sword is the answer to attaining that?"

"I don't know. I was never very good at understanding the prophesies." That was an understatement. She had memorized all of the Shinmeiryuu teachings like any other student of the discipline, but the prophesies never meant much to her. She had a hard time connecting them and their obscure meanings to her duty. "But I'm sure it's connected in some way."

"What makes you say that?" Negi asked.

"A sword named Gentle Assassin appears one day and attaches itself to a Shinmeiryuu swordswoman? It has to be connected. And I know it's tied to me. This morning I went to practice my techniques at the shrine, and that blade you're holding switched places with my Yunagi, without me noticing."

Negi's eyes widened at the statement. "So this blade actually swapped places with another sword? Curious…" Setsuna could see that Negi was thinking of something. "I wonder…"

"What is it Sensei?"

Negi looked like he was trying to remember something he hadn't thought about in years. "It reminded me of something I came across in my studies at magical school. There's a phenomenon that was observed hundreds of years ago: everyday objects moving, talking, acting human. The scholars and mages studying it called it 'Animate Anthropomorphism.' Eventually they figured out the source of the phenomenon." He leaned forward in his chair, bringing his voice low, to a near whisper. "They concluded that if something was imbued with enough magical power during its creation, it could become animate."

With a soft laugh he leaned back and gave a wave of his hand in dismissal. "Of course, no one could ever replicate the phenomenon with anything bigger than a coin—the sheer magnitude of magical energy it would take to make even one animate object of any consequence would have drained any mage foolish enough to try. Additionally, after a brief period of maybe ten years, there were no more recorded instances, so it largely fell out of study."

Setsuna felt a tightness in her chest as what Negi said sank in. _Then there can only be one explanation for where this sword came from…_ She needed to ask him if it were possible. "Negi—"

She was interrupted by a knock at the door. It opened, revealing Minamoto Shizuna, Mahora's guidance counselor and nurse. "Pardon me. Negi, the headmaster asked me to get you. He would like to see you in his office, immediately." She gave a small smile to Setsuna, her eyes twinkling behind her glasses. "Sakurazaki-san, it is good to know that you're awake. I'll come back to check on you after I fetch some of the other teaches." With that she left, closing the door behind her.

Negi sighed heavily and stood, stretching his arms. "Duty calls." He placed the sword next to her on the bed and moved towards the door saying, "I'll check up on you too, after I see what the headmaster wants." He reached for the doorknob.

"Negi, wait!"

He turned back to her with a questioning look. "Yes, Setsuna-san? What is it?" Setsuna shifted uncomfortably in her hospital cot.

"I wanted to ask you, would there be…" she braced herself for the question, "would there be enough power to create an animate sword stored in the Great Grand Master Key?"

Negi's eyes blinked behind his glasses. "Hmm… I would say so," he nodded his head, "definitely."

Setsuna could feel the blood drain from her face. _So it's true then_. "Negi… I think your father gave me this sword."

The young wizard's jaw nearly hit the floor. Shock and confusion painted his face. He recovered slowly. "I—I have to go to my meeting. Setsuna-san, I'll be back as soon as I am done with the headmaster, I promise." She gave him a slight nod and he left the room.

Alone, she stared at the sword next to her. Her head hurt, but not as badly as before. Just a minor throbbing really. And the whispering was gone. Not wanting to touch it, she turned over on her side, away from the blade and shut her eyes, hoping to get some much needed sleep. In her state of exhaustion, it was not hard to drift into a light slumber, even with her thoughts bouncing between the object behind her, and the girl she imagined snuggling in front of her.

* * *

Negi nearly sprinted down the hallways toward the headmaster's office, classroom doors passing left and right. He couldn't get what Setsuna had said out of his head. _How is that possible? I don't even know where he is yet, since he vanished from Mundus Magicus. How could she find him? Or is it he that found her? What does this mean? Something must have happened that I don't know about._

Eventually the classrooms gave way to offices as Negi passed into the administration wing. At the end of the hallway he came to large double doors that marked the entrance to the Headmaster's office. He swung one the heavy doors open and was greeted by a solemn mood. Most of the magical teachers and security staff at the school were in attendance, forming a semi-circle around the Headmaster who was sitting at his desk. Negi took his place next to Takahata Takamichi, who was unusually silent. He didn't give Negi more than a glance and a nod of acknowledgement. The tension in the air was palpable.

The Headmaster, Konoe Konoemon broke the silence. "Welcome Negi. It seems we are only waiting for Miss Goodman and Miss Sakura."

Suddenly one of the windows of the expansive room flung open. "Did someone call for me?" Standing on the sill were the girls in question. "Takane D. Goodman and Sakura Mei, reporting for duty old man!" Takane was a fan of flashy entrances, and she lived up to her reputation often, even when the situation didn't warrant it. Mei was much more reserved, but would follow Takane to hell and back in a heartbeat. She now stood timidly behind the tall blonde, obviously embarrassed by her sempai's behavior.

The Headmaster raised an overly bushy eyebrow at the latecomers. Light from the window glinted off his shiny, strangely oblong head. "This is not the time for jokes Miss Goodman. We have a serious situation that demands our immediate attention." He paused briefly to let the girls take their places on the far side of the stern, dark skinned Gandolfini. Once the two fell in line, Konoemon stood to address the staff.

"As you all know, we keep a close tab on all of the magical goings on here at Mahora Academy. After the incident with the near collapse of _Mundus Magicus_, there has not been any significant spikes in magical energy, either from the world tree, or from any other magical being." Old man Konoemon scanned the room from left to right. "However, yesterday afternoon, we measured a release of magical energy the likes of which we have scarcely seen before."

"What kind of level are we talking about here?" Despite his portly appearance, Mitsuru Nijuin always got straight to the point.

The Headmaster looked to the man standing two down from Negi to the right. "Satoru-san, if you would?" Yuuna Akashi's father, who was also a professor at the school, looked up from the spot on the floor he was studying.

"Of course, Headmaster. According to our sensors, there was a burst of magical energy, lasting a total of 15 seconds. This is where it gets interesting." Satoru raised a finger to push his glasses up. "The intensity of the energy released during that span was double that of the world tree in the recent episode with _Mundus Magicus_."

"Impossible! That was the largest spike in two hundred years!" That was Kataragi-sensei, dressed in his usual black suit and sunglasses covering the eyes of his bearded face.

Satoru Akashi gave him a level look from behind his glasses. "It is possible, and it's true. Furthermore, it has been difficult to determine the location of the release, but it was definitely not the World Tree, nor any mage on staff."

"What about one of the students?" Sister Shakti, who ran the nun-protection squad, chimed in. "Might any of them have a capability to wield such power?"

Takamichi shook his head before Satoru could answer. "Unlikely. Only a few students have magical capabilities. Of those that do, only Kagurazaka Asuna has the magical reserves deep enough to release such a spike, and I can personally vouch for Asuna's whereabouts yesterday."

"Because you two were on another date, right?" Takane said with a raised eyebrow at the grey-haired teacher. It seemed she still didn't take the meeting seriously. "Don't deny it! I saw you two walki—."

"TAKANE, ENOUGH!" The Headmaster's magically enhanced voice boomed through the room, surprising Takane so much that she fell backwards on her rear. Her face flushed as she stood, brushing off her skirt unnecessarily. It was obvious she wasn't going to interrupt again. The Headmaster turned back to Akashi. "Please, continue Satoru-san."

"While we could not pinpoint the location of the spike, we were able to match the energy signature to an individual. Much to our surprise, the individual that matched the energy signature… was none other than Nagi Springfield."

An audible gasp came from Mei's mouth and a few of the staff stiffened visibly. All eyes turned to Negi, who himself had tensed, even more than he was before. Caught extremely off guard, Negi started sputtering nonsense. The only thing that quieted him was Takamichi's hand on his shoulder. "Calm down Negi. Let the Headmaster explain." Takamichi's calming presence helped, and Negi settled down.

The Headmaster took his seat, but spoke in just as serious a tone as before. "Despite knowing it was Nagi, we have no knowledge of what came of his action, nor do we know what was intended by it. So in the meantime, I expect everyone to be on their highest alert. There is no telling what may come as a result of this, and we must protect the students at all costs. Are we clear?" There was a collective, "Yes, sir!" Konoemon then scanned the room from behind his comically heavy eyebrows. "Good. Now, back to your duties. Everyone, dismissed."

The staff bowed to the Headmaster and started filing out of the room. Takane left out the window she came in through with her proverbial tail between her legs. Mei followed her, bowing profusely to the remaining people in the room. Negi saw Takamichi turn to leave. He would have followed but he felt rooted to the floor. A sinking suspicion had seeped into his thoughts and it terrified him. Takamichi noticed and attempted to talk to him, but as soon as he put a hand on Negi's shoulder, Negi bolted out of the room, leaving Takamichi thoroughly stunned. He watched Negi speed down the hallway towards the classrooms. He thought to himself, _it seems another trial has begun in Negi's life. Only time will tell who will be involved in the fight with him this time._ Takamichi wasn't usually reverent, but this time he put his hands together and bowed in the direction Negi had gone. _Good luck to you, all you unknown soldiers._

* * *

Author's Note: After much waiting, here is chapter 14! More intrigue and mystery in this one! Now it's involving the entire Mahora community? Of course! Anyway, I hope you all liked reading this chapter! I'll start writing chapter 15 shortly. If you would like to contact me, please leave a review or send me a Private Message. I love hearing from people reading Barriers! Thank you for the support, and please stay excited for Setsuna as she finds out who she really is! In the words of Glyph, "Have a pleasant day." -Grimbt.


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